Donald P. Humphrey, 85, of Grinnell died September 17, 2009, at the Mayflower Community Health Care Center in Grinnell.
Funeral services are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday, September 21, at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell with Pastor Walt Claussen of Chester – Newburg Congregational Church and Pastor Todd Follette of First Friends Church officiating. Organist will be Barb Chitwood and vocalist Brockie Follette. Pallbearers will be Edward, Richard, Bradley, Mark and Brian Humphrey, Marsha and Jacob Patterson, Calvin Wiseman, and Justine Budhram. Honorary bearers will be Emery and Vernadine Kaisand,Donna Fleischer, Bonnie Cowger, Ferne Claus,and Dorothy Wiseman. Burial will be in Prairie View Cemetery in Gilman.
Visitation will be held from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. Sunday at Smith Funeral Home and with the family present from 2:00 to 4:00 Sunday afternoon.
Memorial contributions may be directed to Newburg – Chester Congregational Church.
Don was born April 2, 1924, in Manchester, Iowa, the son of Chester and Barbara Fuller Humphrey. He was raised in Hickory Grove Township near Newburg and was a 1942 graduate of Newburg High School.
On December 3, 1943, he was married to Joyce Evelyn Weaver, at the Newton Parsonage. The couple farmed in Jasper County for many years and retired to Grinnell in 2007. He was a member of the Gilman Telephone Board, Hickory Grove Township Trustee, Newburg-Chester Congregational Church, and Grinnell Elks Lodge.
Don was an avid hunter, fisherman, and trapper and enjoyed the outdoors. He was a wood craftsman who created beautiful furniture for his wife, children, and grandchildren. He enjoyed farming until his retirement, then helped Richard on the farm with picking corn, driving the truck for the pickers to fill, and working on machinery prior to moving to Grinnell. He enjoyed traveling to Mexico, Hawaii, Alaska, Europe, and Branson, Missouri, and particularly enjoyed the family fishing trips to Minnesota. He took great pride in teaching his children mechanical, construction, and farming skills, and the art of skinning a muskrat.
Survivors include his wife, Joyce of Grinnell; four children, Edward (Carol) Humphrey of Granite Bay, California, Richard (Connie) Humphrey of Gilman, Donna (Mort) Fleischer of Scottsdale, Arizona, and Marsha (Mark) Patterson of Gilman; one sister, Dorothy Wiseman of Gilman; 6 grandchildren, Mark and Brian Humphrey, Justine Budhram, Bradley Humphrey, and Jacob and Erin Patterson; and one great-grandson, Miles Henry Fleischer. He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Maxine Paul and Marjorie Wallis; and one granddaughter, Kasey Ann Patterson.
|
