• Ham (Amateur Radio) Some of my earliest memories was listening him send and receive morse code on the ham radio set).
• Mechanic (he could fix virtually anything, Cars, radios, appliances, cow milking machines, and the calliope at the Story City merry-go-round (1964)).
• Boy Scout leader.
• Canoeist (he took many boy scouts on memorable canoe trips to the Quetico including his own family.)
• Fundraiser (organized and executed Christmas wreath sales to help the Scouts raise funds for their canoe trips for many years.)
• Electronics technician (maintained radio communications system for the Iowa Highway Commission that was later the Iowa Department of Transportation for 36 years).
• Camper (Started out in tents and progressed through every type of camping trailer to a 40 foot motorhome).
• Cook (best over the campfire)
• Photographer (We have thousands of slides and photographs to go through and digitize).
• Vacation planner (He would get out maps and books an carefully plan exciting vacations every year. Many of us saw 48 states.) My Dad loved maps.
• Wood worker (created bookshelves, mantle clocks and a grandmother clock).
• Carpenter (built his own house in Story City starting in 1959, basement remodel in House in Fairfield)
• Musician (Played Ukelele, Banjo, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Mandolin, Fiddle, Organ, Trumpet, Accordion and harmonica)
• Dancer (loved to dance to Country Music with the ladies (including and especially Mom)).
• Artist (Pencil sketches and painted in acrylic. Designed a logo for the Fairfield Weak-enders and painted an underwater scene on bathroom wall).
• Appliance and TV repairman (repaired TV’s and radios for years in the basement until my Mom and Dad opened a TV store and then added appliance repair).
• Driver (loved to drive).
• Motorcyclist (Owned a Honda trail bike).
• Computer Programmer (Apple II Plus in basic)
• Storm chaser (He always took his kids out to watch big storms come in while Mom hid in the basement. Joined the Amateur radio storm chasers in South Texas).
• Took every one of his kids to work with him over the Christmas holiday
• Gardener (Vegetables and Flowers).
• Amateur Astronomer (Owned a 6 inch telescope and joined the ISU Astrology club in the 80′s).
• Speaker/Presenter (He loved to show his slide shows to camping club, boy scouts and church groups).
• Swimmer (Dad and Mom made sure that we all knew how to swim, he taught us to swim besides making sure we had swimming lessons every summer).
• Napkin artist (He would pull out a pen from his pocket protector and draw on restaurant napkins in coffee time discussions).
• Loved steam power (Attended Old Threshers and Settlers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant for many years).
• Modeler (built models from kits and even some from scratch (Airplanes, mississippi river tugboats, HO Scale train buildings)).
• Story Teller (A trait that he got from his Mother, but that’s another story).
• Gold panner (Wades Gold Mill in South Dakota).
• Fisherman (Took his kids and Father fishing on many occasions around Iowa and Minnesota).
• Dog Groomer. (Dad always did the dog grooming. Poor poodles!)

My Dad was a friend, father, grandfather, brother, mentor, adviser and more importantly Dad was a teacher to his children. He taught me and my brother and sisters most everything from the above list. He taught us to be compassionate and also to be self sufficient in many ways.

I miss you Dad….

My Dad passed away on September 4th 2011 at 4:20 AM at the Israel Family Hospice House In Ames Iowa surrounded by his loving children after losing his companion and lovely wife of 55 years only two months earlier. Dad was just 74 and had fought a losing battle with a devastating and horrible disease called lewy body dementia for several years. My Mom passed away at Bethany Manor Nursing home in Story City on June 30th 2011 only days before her 74th birthday.

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