Jake Walter BRAM

BRAM, RASMUSSEN, LOWMAN, BROWN, JOHNSON, HATZIEVGENAKIS, PEDEN, BRICE, RIPLEY, WITHERS, NORTON, OLSON, ADAMS, DUNLAP

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/6/2008 at 11:11:15

Des Moines Register, IA
January 24, 2006

JAKE W. BRAM, 85, passed away Thursday, January 19, 2006, in Cape Coral, Florida. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday morning, January 28, 2006 at the St. Paul Congregational United Church of Christ in Oskaloosa, with Rev. Michael Crouch of the First Christian Church officiating. Burial will be in Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa, with Military Honors by the Harry L. Anderson Post #34 of the American Legion and the V.F.W. Post #2237. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m., Friday morning, January 27 at Garland-Van Arkel-Langkamp Funeral Chapel; the family will be present at the funeral chapel from 5 to 7 p.m. to greet visitors. Memorials may be made to the Jake Bram Memorial with IHCC Scholarship Foundation or to St. Paul Congregational United Church of Christ.

Jake Walter Bram, son of Henry and Jennie Rasmussen Bram, was born January 7, 1921 in Renwick, Iowa. Jake was a 1938 graduate of LuVerne High School. He enrolled at Iowa State University following high school. World War II started, and Jake suspended his education while he served with the Army from April 1942 to November 1945. While in the military, he married Margaret "Marge" J. Lowman on March 21, 1943 at the First Congregational Church in Ames, IA. After the war, he returned to ISU, where he finished his last quarter and received a degree in Agricultural Management and Education. Jake's first job took him and Marge to Fort Dodge, where he taught for the county extension office. In 1953, the family moved to Oskaloosa, where he served as the distribution manager for the Des Moines Register; he held this position for 25 years. In 1961, Jake joined Jack Hunt in the real estate business. He started the Oskaloosa Real Estate Center in 1964, today the business is known as Hawkeye Real Estate. He also worked as a Certified Real Estate Appraiser. He retired from real estate in 2001. He served in the Army Reserves for over 35 years and retired in January 1981, with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Jake enjoyed golfing, woodworking, his grandson's sporting events, and ISU sports. He was a 50 year plus member and trustee at the St. Paul Congregational UCC and taught Sunday school there. He was also a member of the American Legion, the Elks, Oskaloosa Realtors Association and was involved in the Trees Forever Program. Jake's original dedication to education never left him and he continued to be a proponent and advocate of continuing education.

Jake's family includes his wife, Marge Bram of Oskaloosa; two daughters, Vicki (Dick) Brown of Oskaloosa and Susan Johnson of Pella. He was blessed with four grandchildren: Nick Hatzievgenakis of Tempe, AZ; Matthew (Tonia) Brown of Redmond, WA; Tracy (Matt) Brice of Allentown, PA; Todd Brown of San Diego, CA; and five great grandchildren: Jon Peden, Caden and Caley Brice, and Holden and Hailey Brown. He is survived by a sister, Betty Ripley of Perry, IA.
He was preceded in death by his parents and six sisters: Matilda White, Doris Withers, Jenny Norton, Anita Olson, Eldine Adams and Bertha Dunlap; and two brothers: Fred and Lewis Bram.