Obituaries : Jerry D. Easter

Jerry D. Easter, 75, of Waterloo, and formerly of Vinton, died Saturday, May 2, at Cedar Valley Hospice Home from complications of of COPD.

Services will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday at Ascension Lutheran Church, with burial in Mount Olivet Cemetery with military rites. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Locke Funeral Home. Memorials may be directed to the church, Harmony Foundation, Christian Crusaders and Cedar Valley Hospice. Condolences may be left at www.LockeFuneralHome.com.

Jerry was born Aug. 22, 1939, in Ottumwa, son of Albert and Goldie Elmore Easter. He married Marie L. Dietrich on June 26, 1966, at First Presbyterian Church, Vinton.

Jerry graduated from Vinton High School in 1957, and from the University of Northern Iowa in 1969 with a bachelor's degree in industrial arts. He worked at John Deere Waterloo Tractor Works for 26 years in quality control, retiring in 1999 as senior service representative. He earlier worked at KXEL Radio as an announcer from 1963 to 1969 and Wagner Manufacturing Co. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Rainier. He was a member of Ascension Lutheran Church. He also belonged to four different chapters of Barbershop Choruses for 45 years: Cedar Falls, Black Hawk Metro, Cedar Rapids and St. Charles, Mo.

Jerry is survived by: his wife; a daughter, Kirsten Easter of Waterloo; a son, Ryan (Deborah) of Geneva, Ill.; three grandsons, Dalton Williams (Michaela Stitchman), and Luke and Nicholas Easter; a great-grandson, Henry Williams; and a sister, Mary Ellen Mease of Albuquerque, N.M.