Ivan J. Wagner 1919-2012

WAGNER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 7/24/2012 at 11:47:09

Sioux City Journal
March 02, 2012

Ivan J. Wagner Jr. of Houston, Texas, formerly of Sioux City, died Monday, Feb. 27, 2012.

Services will be 10 a.m. today at John Wesley United Methodist Church in Houston. Graveside services will be in Chapel of the Chimes in Oakland, Calif. Arrangements are under the direction of Addison Funeral Home in Spring, Texas.

Ivan was born on Dec. 1, 1919, in Sioux City, to Ivan J. Sr. and Otilla Hutton, and stepmother, Laura. He was married to Eileen Marie Wagner on May 16, 1942. They celebrated 69 plus years of marriage. Ivan and Eileen had three sons, Gary, and his wife, Barbara, Ivan J. III, and his wife, Rand-Mae, Steven, and his wife, Kathleen. He had seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

Ivan graduated from Trinity College in 1942, with a degree in pre-med. He also had his private pilot's license, so he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. During cadet training, he flew BT13's, and graduated to the AT6 which he had to bail out of over Mesquite, Texas. He then served as a gunnery instructor at the AFB in Laredo, Texas. At the end of World War II, he was sent to military hospital in Colorado Springs to work in the labs and help discharge the wounded servicemen.

After the war the family moved to Oakland, Calif., and Ivan was hired by Shell Oil Company. He worked in Emeryville until 1971. He was then transferred to Houston and worked in the research labs until he retired from Shell Oil after 37 years.

He was a 70-year Mason, and a member of the Scottish Rite and the Arabia Shrine Temple. He served as Shrine Patrol president in 1989. As an active member of the Shrine, he joined the Patrol and marched in completions and participated in fundraisers for the Shrine Circus which supports the Shrine Crippled Children's Hospital.

Ivan was preceded in death by his father, Ivan; mother, Otilla; stepmother, Laura; brother, Harold J.; and nephew, David.