Ted Weld WESENBERG

WESENBERG, WELD, GILBERT, RODRIGUEZ, KELLY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/13/2007 at 10:46:54

Ted Weld Wesenberg, 49, passed away peacefully at home in Dows, IA, on Monday, March 31, 2003, from complications of Acute Leukemia. A memorial service was held at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, April 5, 2003, at Morgan United Methodist Church, rural Dows, with Pastor Tony Hershey officiating. The body was cremated. The family will hold a private inurement at a later date in Morgan Township Cemetery.

Ted Weld Wesenberg was born on April 14, 1953, in Wright County Hospital, Clarion, Iowa, the son of Rodney Newell and Ruth Evelyn (Weld) Wesenberg of rural Dows. Ted was baptized at the Alden United Methodist Church and later confirmed at United Methodist Church in Dows. Ted graduated from Dows High School in 1970. He attended the University of Northern Iowa, and graduated from the University of Iowa in 1974, with a BA degree in Anthropology / Art History. From 1976 to 1979 Ted was the Director of Personnel for Bell Helicopter in Esfahan, Iran. Ted attended Drake University, where he earned a Masters of Education degree in 1980. He then taught fourth grade at Mary Mount School in Santa Barbara, California, until 1984 when he was diagnosed with a non-Burkitt's Lymphoma. Ted received an autologous bone marrow transplant on June 30, 1986, at Dana Farber Cancer Center in Boston, MA. After recovery he taught English as a Second Language in Hiroshima, Japan and Tianan, Taiwan. In 1990, Ted was hired as manager of Main Street Anamosa, and from 1992 until 1995 worked for Trees Forever. He owned and operated the Dows Flower Pot from 1996 until 2000 and from 1997 until shortly before his death he was owner, editor and publisher of the Dows Advocate. In November 2002 Ted and his partner Criss opened Lost Farm Antiques. Ted worked tirelessly on a variety of community service projects in Dows and other Iowa communities during the past two decades of his life. He founded the Dows Historical Society, & wrote original grants for many of the restoration projects in the Dows Historical District. Ted recently secured a grant from the Vision Iowa / CAT program for the Dows Community and Convention Center. He worked closely with the Iowa Department of Transportation to locate a new interstate rest stop and welcome center at the Dows exit. Ted was always busy volunteering for Dows Corn Days each August, but he always found time to visit with friends old and new. Ted will long be remembered by his family and friends as a person who lived life to its fullest. He looked at every challenge he faced as an opportunity to learn, and in return, he used every opportunity he had to educate others.

Survivors include his mother, Ruth Wesenberg, life partner Criss Gilbert, brother Tom Wesenberg and wife Marcia and brother Tim Wesenberg and wife Mia, all of Dows. Also nieces Nicole Wesenberg, Naomi Rodriguez, & Susan Rodriguez, and nephews Terry Wesenberg and Tanner Wesenberg as well as godsons Devon Kelly and Shane Kelly of Ames. His father, Rodney Newell Wesenberg, and brother Terry Newell Wesenberg preceded him in death. The family requests that memorials be directed to the Dows Community and Convention Center Fund at United Bank and Trust in Dows.

April 13, 2003
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