John Owen WHIPPLE

WHIPPLE, WALDEE, SCHRODER, KAISER, REDDELL, MAAS, ECKSTEIN, JASS, KLEIN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/2/2012 at 17:27:21

November 2, 1931 --- July 21, 2012

John Owen Whipple, age 80, of Iowa Falls, Iowa passed away at the Presbyterian Village Care Center on July 21, 2012. He had suffered for a number of years from Parkinson's disease and complications. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. at the First Lutheran Church in Dows, Iowa on Wednesday July 25, 2012, with burial in the Mount Hope Cemetery near Dows where six generations of the Whipple family are interned. Visitation will be Tuesday, July 24, 2012 from 5-7 p.m. at the Surls Funeral Home in Iowa Falls. The Surls Funeral Homes are in charge of the arrangements.

John was born at his parent's home in rural Hardin County, Iowa on November 2, 1931 and was the oldest of Donald and Clarice Waldee Whipple's seven children. He attended school in Wright, Franklin and Hardin counties. After a stint in the Marine Corps he returned to Dows and was employed at the Lambert Lumber Yard. On September 27, 1953 John married VaDonna Schroder at the Methodist Church in Dows. The couple was blessed with six children. John and VaDonna began farming west of Popejoy, Iowa in 1954. In 1964 he quit farming and went to work as an agricultural supply salesman for Farm Service (FS) out of Hampton, Iowa. They purchased an acreage on the west edge of Popejoy in March 1965, where they remained for the next 44 years. John retired from FS in 1994. After the sale of their Popejoy property they bought a house in Iowa Falls, Iowa in November of 2008. John was a member of First Lutheran Church at Dows, the Franklin County Republican Party, Elks Club, Farm Bureau and American Legion. John and VaDonna enjoyed camping and traveling in their camper. They visited a great deal of the United States. For a number of years after John's retirement they enjoyed "snow birding" in the south and south west until John's health became an issue. John was a family man who loved camping, traveling, fishing and especially loved and enjoyed his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He will be greatly missed by his family.

John leaves behind his wife VaDonna, five children, and thirteen grandchildren: John L. (Belinda) Whipple of Des Moines, Iowa, and family Timothy (Anna) Whipple, Amber (Steve) Kaiser, and Elizabeth (John) Reddell; Valerie (Dale) Maas of Popejoy, Iowa, and family Daniel (Libby) Maas and Lisa (Tom Mortice) Maas; Wade (Debra) Whipple of Wentzville, Missouri, and family Chad (Kelly) Whipple, Ryan (Leah)Whipple and Brooke Whipple; Neil (Jan) Whipple of St. Charles, Missouri, and family Amanda, Trevor, and Blake Whipple; and Rob (Kay) Whipple of Indianola, Iowa, and family Cameron and Deidre Whipple. John and VaDonna also have eight great grandchildren. John is survived by six siblings: Chester (Shirley) Whipple, Gene (Sheilia) Whipple, Dennis (Beverly) Whipple, Janice (Chuck) Eckstein, Pam (John) Jass and Sherri Klein. He was preceded in death by his grandparents, parents and one infant son, Wayne.

http://www.surls.com/obituaries.html