Obituaries : Richard "Dick" Dean Close

Richard "Dick" Close, age 73, passed away early Wednesday morning, December 4, 2019, at the V.A. Medical Center in Iowa City, IA. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, December 9, 2019, at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home in Marshalltown with full military honors. Burial will follow in the Littleton Cemetery, Littleton, IA at 3pm Monday. Visitation will be held from 2 pm - 4 pm Sunday, December 8th at the Mitchell family Funeral Home. A memorial fund is being established. For further information or to send a condolence, please visit www.mitchellfh.com or phone 641-844-1234.

Richard Dean Close was born in Littleton, IA on February 12, 1946, the youngest of thirteen children of Edwin Dennis and Ellen Marie (Phelps) Close. He graduated from the Vinton High School in 1964 and he had an outstanding wrestling record there. He enlisted in the United States Navy after high school and faithfully served on the USS Kearsarge during the Vietnam War before being honorably discharged in 1968. On February 14, 1970, Dick was united in marriage to Eileen Derby and the couple later divorced. He then spent eight years serving in the Iowa National Guard. He had been employed at several packing plants before they had to close. Dick then attended Texas A & M and later Mississippi State University with a major in food science. He accepted a position with USDA in the food safety inspection system at the IBP plant in Waterloo before coming to the Marshalltown plant in 1990, where he was employed for 25 years. On May 5, 1995, he was united in marriage to Connie (Staack) Barker at the First Presbyterian Church in Marshalltown. Dick was especially fond of their precious Shelties: Lizzie Anne and the late Zoee and Sugar Belle.

Left to cherish his memory is his wife, Connie; his children: Kristine Brownlee, Ashlee (Corey) Stupp, Kelly King, Kirk Close and Leslie Renfroe; his grandchildren: Ricky King, Crystal Hein, James Tunnell, II, Ryan (Canaan) Tunnell, Zander Stupp, Emma Stupp, Tyler Renfroe and Madison Dahl; his great grandchildren: Jada Forbes-Tunnell, Eden Tunnell, Ezra Faith-Tunnell and soon to be, James Richard Tunnell; brother, Allan Close and three sisters, Eileen Maines, Dorothy Schrader and Kate Dickerson.

In eternal life, Dick is reunited with his parents; his son, Kevin Close; his brothers: John, Glen, Walt and Lloyd Close; and his sisters: Mary Graves, Anna McKeeman, Donna Hansen and Ella Mae Close.