Messer, Edward J. (1919-2019)

MESSER, VAN PATTER, LEFLEUR, HERRON, KOPPEN, WALTMAN, DAVIS

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 8/22/2019 at 18:50:54

Edward J. Messer
June 23, 1919 - June 25, 2019

Edward J. Messer, 100, of Forest City, passed away on Tuesday, June 25, 2019, at the Good Samaritan Center in Forest City, Iowa.

Edward John Messer was born on June 23, 1919, in Dysart, Iowa, to Earl and Annamae (Allison) Messer. He had two older brothers, Glenn and Leo and a younger sister, Ann Dorothy, who preceded him in death. As young boys, Ed and his older brother, Glenn, delivered newspapers. As a high school student in Eldora, he began working at the A & G Pharmacy. During that time, his friends used to tease him, calling him a “Soda Jerk.” Ed graduated from Eldora High School in 1938 as co-captain of the football team. Not surprisingly, he lettered in football.

After completing high school, Ed joined the Army on October 19, 1941. During World War II, he served as a secretary for his unit in the South Pacific where he earned a Purple Heart. While on furlough, he married Verla Lavonne Van Patter on March 19, 1945, at the United Methodist Church in Eldora. He, then, served another six months in the Army before his honorable discharge following the end of the war. They honeymooned in St. Louis, Missouri, after Ed’s discharge from the Army.

Ed and Verla, then, moved to the Drake Trailer Park in Des Moines, Iowa, and Ed enrolled in the Drake University College of Pharmacy in the fall of 1945. During his student years, he, also, worked at the East Side Drug in Des Moines. On May 30, 1949, he graduated from Drake the University College of Pharmacy. He took his first job as a pharmacist at Marshall Drug in Hampton. In addition, he worked in Radcliffe and at the Judisch Brothers’ Drug Store in Ames before returning to Hampton to work again at Marshall Drug. Next, he moved to Dows to work for a drug store on main street. In 1958, however, Ed moved to Forest City and began working at Pinckney Rexall Drug, working there until he bought the drug store from Lehman Pinckney. There his pharmacy career ended, following a heart attack and stroke.

Ed enjoyed dancing with Verla to Big Band Music, fishing in Canada with his Forest City friends and family, canoeing, camping in their Winnebago trailer, hunting pheasants, woodworking, vegetable gardening, especially growing tomatoes, baking a variety of items including cornmeal yeast bread, caramel rolls, black walnut ice box cookies, and his mother’s recipe for black walnut cake. Moreover, he could play very competitively at table games and cards.

A member of the United Methodist Church and the Forest City American Legion, he made lots of wooden objects for the church including first aid kits and kitchen items.

Ed is survived by his wife, Verla, of Forest City; three children: John (Sue) Messer, of Littleton, Colorado, Janice (Ron) Koppen, of Algona, and Chuck (Audrey) Messer. of Forest City; his grandchildren: Jenna (Mark) LeFleur, and their children: Rohan, Asher, Emma, and Saige LeFleur; Tasha (Daniel) Herron, and their children: Jude, Lily, and Shiloh Herron; Ryan Waltman, and his son, Jack Lester; and Randy (Jessie) Waltman, and their children, Hayden and Noah Waltman. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brothers, Glenn and Leo Messer; and his sister, Ann Dorothy.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 A.M., Friday, June 28, 2019, at the United Methodist Church in Forest City with Pastor Les Green officiating. Burial will follow at the Madison Township Cemetery with military rites provided by the Forest City American Legion Post # 121. Visitation is scheduled from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M., Thursday, at the Cataldo Schott Funeral Chapel, 505 North Clark Street, Forest City. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials be directed to the United Methodist Church Faith Village after school program.

Cataldo Schott Funeral Home, Forest City, Iowa, 2019.

Winnebago Obituaries maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
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