64480_John “Jack”_Tjaden
IOWA FALLS | John “Jack” Tjaden died on Nov. 4, 2014, one day shy of his 90th birthday, at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines.
Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8, at St. Mark~s Catholic Church with burial to follow in St. Mark’s Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday at the Surls Funeral Home in Iowa Falls. There will be an Elks Service to follow visitation at 7 p.m.
A memorial fund has been established.
John “Jack” Bosworth Tjaden was born on Nov. 5, 1924, in Iowa Falls. He was the oldest of four children born to Henry and Margaret (Bosworth) Tjaden. He graduated from Iowa Falls High School in 1942. Upon graduation, he enlisted in the US Navy, receiving his training at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Chicago and served in WWII from December 1942 to February 1946, a 36-month tour of duty. He served as a gunner aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV117) and the destroyer USS Gurkey (DD783). After the war he was employed by Northwestern Bell Telephone as a lineman and cable technician, retiring in 1984 after 37½ years. Upon retirement, he worked part time at Discount Liquors.
He served as an Iowa Falls volunteer fireman for 43½ years and was a member of the Iowa Falls City Council for three terms, 1966-1973, and again from 1982-1985. He was a lifelong Iowa Falls resident, a sports enthusiast, an avid golfer and enjoyed playing cribbage. He was a member of the Telephone Pioneers, Hyman-Peavey Legion Post 188, Elks Lodge No. 1674 where he also served as the exalted ruler, and the Highland Golf Club. He was an Iowa Falls-Alden High School booster. John was first married to Marian Humphreys in 1947. In 1971 he married Colleen Uhl in Ames who died in 2008.
John in survived by his three children: Jacqueline (Donald) Rieks of West Des Moines, Patricia (Richard) Reese of Westerville, Ohio, and Ronald (Stephanie) Tjaden of Mason City; grandchildren: Jennifer (John) Burroway, Bradley Rieks, Tessie (Matt) Trump and John (Alyssa) Tjaden; great-grandchildren: Lily Burroway, Jack, Cole and Gray Trump and Ransom and Jarrett Tjaden; sisters: Molly (Millard) Rommel, Gretchen Rabe and a brother George Tjaden. Also surviving are many nieces and nephews. John was preceded in death by his wife and his parents