Harry A. Schoonover (1876-1951) Alternate

BARNES, COTTON, DUNSMORE, MACNAUGHTON, MAGILL, MAIN, OSTBERG, RASMUSSEN, ROSCOE, SCHOONOVER, SCHULKE, ZEH

Posted By: Eileen Reed (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:56

October 13, 1876 --- December 3, 1951

MAYOR HARRY SCHOONOVER DIES MONDAY

CAREER ENDS FOR BUSINESS MAN AND MAYOR

City Resident 63 Years, Business Man For 47 Years And Mayor For 4½ Years

Funeral services for Eagle Grove’s Mayor Harry Schoonover, 75, were held Wednesday at 2:30 p. m. in the Congregational church, Rev. Walter Ross officiated.

Mayor Schoonover died Monday afternoon, December 3 about 3 o’clock following a coronary thrombosis suffered late Saturday evening. He had been in his usual health up to that time and his sudden illness and death was a shock to the family and community alike. Interment was in Rose Hill cemetery.

Honorary pallbearers were members of the city council: George Heard, J. W. Robinson, Walter Flower, Klaus Thieben, Donald Mitchell and H. Taylor Beer. Active pall bearers were: Chief of Police Wilbur Baker, Officers Robert Koob and Pete Henry, Deputy Sheriff Jack Hanson and Highway Patrol men Harland Sievers and Al Sparby.

Masonic Services

Masonic services were held Tuesday evening in the Kastler Funeral home. Eagle Grove’s Knights Templars also served as honor guard at the funeral Wednesday.

Wayne Rasmussen, husband of one of his granddaughters, was soloist at the services and Nadine Nickell was organist. The church was filled to overflowing for the services.

Watching Television

Mayor Schoonover was at home watching television when he suffered the stroke which proved fatal. He was rushed to the Lutheran hospital in Fort Dodge but doctors reported that he was in serious condition from the start and that he had little chance of recovery.

Mayor Schoonover had been a resident of Eagle Grove for 63 years and of Wright county for 70 years. He was born In Black Hawk county October 13, 1876.

Leading Business Firm

During most of Mr. Schoonover's life he operated a grocery and food store. He started business on the old east side in 1898 at the age of 22. He has numbered his brother Howard and Frank Zeh of Des Moines among his partners during his long business life.

As the Mayor he was Eagle Grove's number one citizen and he came as near filling the qualification as any man could. He retired in 1945 from the grocery business after 47 years of service to the community.

His service was not limited to the business which he owned and operated but during all of that time he was active in community affairs. Band music was one of his few pleasures and he organized and led the old Eagle Grove Military Band and the Eagle Grove Cornet Band. He also served on the volunteer fire department and as city councilman on several occasions.

Elected Mayor

He was elected Mayor in 1947 and re-elected twice. During his 3 regimes as Mayor the town has started many worthwhile improvement projects. There are probably few periods in the city's history in which the city hall has been so important to the growth and development of the community. It was his able guiding hand plus cooperation from a strong council which has made this activity possible.

As a business man Mayor Schoonover set an example that every young man can well follow. If the key to success in business is hard work and constant attention to business then Mr. Schoonover deserved the success he attained. In all of the years he operated his business he was always down to work early and still there when everyone else had gone home.

In his earlier years he was also active in the Chamber of Commerce and is many times a past director and officer of the group. During the years he took a less active part he was still always on the job in his store and ready to cooperate with every community venture.

The loss of Mayor Harry Schoonover will be long felt in Eagle Grove.

Obituary

Harry A. Schoonover, son of Mr. and Mrs. O. A. Schoonover, was born in Blackhawk county, Iowa, October 13, 1876. The family moved to Wright county in 1881 and to Eagle Grove in 1888.

Harry attended country school and the Eagle Grove public schools and the Congregational Sunday School.

In his early boyhood he worked as a grocery clerk. A few years later as a young man he was clerk for the roundhouse foreman on the Chicago Northwestern Railroad.

In March, 1893, he went into the grocery business on the East side of town. In 1906 he took his brother Howard into partnership. They later bought a store on West Broadway. Harry eventually purchased his brother’s interest and remained in business until the time of his retirement in June, 1945.

He was married to Della W. Cotton, November 5, 1898, with whom he celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary in 1948. To this union four children were born, three girls and one boy who died in infancy.

He was a member of the Congregational church, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the following Masonic bodies: Bower Lodge No. 454 A.F. & A.M., the Chapter, Council, and Knights Templar, the Order of the Eastern Star, Eagle Chapter 114, and the Order of the White Shrine of Jerusalem.

He had the 10-year certificate for serving on the Voluntary Fire Department of Eagle Grove. He was a city councilman for several terms, Park Commissioner for a number of years, and was elected Mayor of Eagle Grove in March 1947 and was reelected for two 2-year terms in 1949 and ’51 in which office he was highly respected by the community.

As a young man, he was an organizer of the Boone Valley Cornet Band and was an active participant until the time when the band activities were given over to the schools.

Throughout his life he was actively interested in those enterprizes, which make for a better community of better people.

Mr. Schoonover passed from his life, after a very brief illness, on December 3, 1951 at the age of 75 years, 1 month and 20 days.

He remains in tender memory with his wife, Della; three daughters, Mrs. C. W. Barnes (Loretta) Butterfield, Minnesota, Mrs. George Roscoe (Madeline) of Alden, Minnesota, and Mrs. M. E. MacNaughton (Aeline) of Des Moines, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and two sisters, his eldest brother, Oscar was buried just a few days more than a week ago. He is survived by two brothers, Fred Schoonover of Cherokee, Iowa and Howard Schoonover of Eagle Grove; 12 living grandchildren; six great grandchildren; nephews, nieces and other relatives and a great many friends. What is perhaps most notable Is the number of his friends among the youngsters of the community, though he had his share of adult friends.

Out-of-town relatives here for the funeral were, Mrs. Loretta Barnes and daughters, Dorothy and Bonnie of Butterfield, Minn, and Mr. and Mrs. Archie Ostberg of St. James, Minn; Mr. and Mrs. George Roscoe of Alden, Minn.; Mr. and Mrs. M. E. MacNaughton and son Luther of Des Moines; Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Rasmussen, Miss Margaret Roscoe, Fort Dodge; Miss Donna Fae MacNaughton, Newton; Fred Schoonover, Cherokee; Mr. and Mrs. Everett Cotton, Mitchell, S. D.; Chan Cotton, Ames; Mr. and Mrs. Albert Magill, Ames; Mr. and Mrs. Frank Zeh, Des Moines, Mr. and Mrs. John Main, Mrs. Theodore Schulke, Cherokee, A. S. Roscoe, Humboldt and Mrs. Chas. Dunsmore of Fort Dodge.

Eagle Grove Eagle --- Eagle Grove, Iowa
December 6, 1951