John C. Dresser

John C. Dresser was born on November 7, 1931, at Postville, Iowa, the son of Lawrence E. Dresser and Felicia (Palmer) Dresser.

John was raised on the family farm near Postville and attended the local schools, graduating from PHS in 1949. He attended Iowa State College (now ISU) in Ames, graduating in Engineering in 1954. After a year of graduate study in engineering at ISC, John served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1957; he was stationed at Kirtland AFB; at Albuquerque, New Mexico and worked on the development of mechanical training devices for Air Force flight crews.

After completing active-duty service with the USAF, John was employed as an engineer by Sandia Labs at Albuquerque, from 1957 to 1973; he worked in the area of nuclear weapons test equipment development, including assignments at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. In 1973, he returned to Iowa, joining the Engineering Staff at Fisher Controls Company (now Fisher/Emerson) in Marshalltown. His work at Fisher mainly involved qualification of control valves for service in nuclear power plants, including design, analysis, and testing. He retired from Fisher on February 1, 1999, after more than 25 years of service with that firm.

In retirement, John continued to do part-time engineering work for Fisher/Emerson for another 11 years, until 2010. He also spent some time at his farm at Postville, and pursued gardening, local travel, classes for seniors, discussion groups, and other activities of interest.

John was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the ISU Alumni Association, the Marshall County Izaak Walton League, the Marshall County Historical Society, the State Historical Society of Iowa, the Community YMCA of Marshalltown, and several other similar organizations. He also was a retired member of the USAF Reserves.

John was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Mary Wallin of Thousand Oaks, California, and his niece Diana Reagan of Thousand Oaks, California.

He is survived by his sister, Eunice Turner of Postville, his five nieces, Barbara Suckow of St. Michael, Minn., Julie Holiday, Susan Turner, and Anita Nesheim of Des Moines, and Wanda Wallin of Thousand Oaks, CA., one nephew, Steven Turner of Postville, and numerous grandnieces and grandnephews, and many friends.

MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA SERVICES

Family and friends are invited to attend a visitation on Saturday, November 9, 2024, from 12:00 P.M. to 2:00 P.M. at Mitchell Family Funeral Home of Marshalltown, Iowa.

POSTVILLE, IOWA SERVICES

A second visitation is also scheduled for Monday November 11, 2024, from 11:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. at the Community Presbyterian Church of Postville, IA. The funeral service will take place on Monday November 11, 2024, at 12:00 P.M. also at the church. John will be laid to rest at the Postville Cemetery in Postville, IA.

Memorials may be directed to the family for later designation. To leave online condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234. Mitchell Family Funeral Home of Marshalltown, Iowa has been entrusted with the care of John and his family.

This obituary was written by the one who knew himself better than anyone: John C. Dresser.