COLBY, John Eiel 1928-2010

COLBY

Posted By: K. L. Kittleson
Date: 6/20/2010 at 19:35:37

HANLONTOWN, IOWA - John "Jack" Eiel Colby, 82, of Hanlontown died on Friday (June 18, 2010) at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit, Mason City.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, June 22, at Grace Lutheran Church, Hanlontown, with Pastor Linda Johnson Prestholt officiating. Interment will be in Brush Point Cemetery, rural Hanlontown, with military honors provided by Edward Tosel American Legion Post No. 110.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday at Bride Colonial Chapel, Manly, and then one hour before the service on Tuesday at the church.
Family suggests memorials to Grace Lutheran Church or Kinney Memorial Library, Hanlontown.

John was born in Gary, Ind., on March 2, 1928, to John and Enid (Hamer) Colby. He graduated from Hanlontown High School in 1945. He then attended the University of Iowa. He attended and graduated from Waldorf College in Forest City, Luther College, Decorah, and the Luther Theological Seminary in St. Paul. He was commissioned as a chaplain in the Navy and served in the Korean War.

Upon an honorable discharge, he began working with his father in the family business, Colby Pioneer Peat Co. He also completed some post graduate work at the University of Minnesota where he met Marilynn Hagen.

John and Marilynn were united in marriage on June 8, 1957, in Minneapolis, Minn. To this union, five children were born.

John and Marilynn moved to Floodwood, Minn., where he developed the northern Minnesota branch of the business. Upon his parents' deaths, he and his family moved to Hanlontown to join his brother, Malcolm, as co-owners of Colby Peat.

In Floodwood, John served on the School Board, served as an interim minister, served as a substitute school teacher and served on the Fire Department. In Hanlontown, John was a long-time member of Community Club, an active member of Grace Lutheran Church where he served as congregation president, church council, cemetery board and Sunday school teacher. He also served on the City Council. He was given the Governor's Leadership Award through the Iowa Community Betterment Program.

John was an avid reader, loved a good game of cards, the Hawkeyes, the Vikings, the Twins, computer games, daily coffee with the men, and a taco at the Fertile Café.

John is survived by his wife Marilynn of 53 years; children, Beth Plautz and husband, Dennis, and their sons, Aaron and Adam, Fort Dodge; Pam Colby and sons, Joah and Theo, Minneapolis, Minn.; Linda Colby and daughter, Rachel, Waukee; Karen Colby, Minneapolis, Minn., and Thomas Colby and his wife, Courtney, and their daughters, Lauren and Caroline, Lincoln, Calif.; two brothers, Joseph Colby and wife, Mary, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Dr. Anthony Colby, Iowa City; one sister, Enid Angela Ziock, and her husband, Richard, Carlsbad, Calif.; sisters-in-law Marie Colby, Hanlontown, and Dianne Ermisch and her husband Eugene, Lake Elmo, Minn.; and one nephew and five nieces and one great-niece.

He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Malcolm.

Bride Colonial Chapel, 110 Spring St., Manly, 641-454-2242. www.colonialchapels.com

[ Globe Gazette online, June 20, 2010 ]

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