DONALD C. JESPERSEN Indianola Donald C. Jespersen of Indianola and formerly of Royal, Rossie, Vinton, Center Point, and Hampton, IA passed away suddenly Saturday, July 11, 2015 after recently recovering from pneumonia. Survivors include his daughter, Jean (Craig) Jespersen Bartholomew; grandson, James (Kendall) Bartholomew; and two sisters, Naomi Adams and Ruth Barnard; plus many nieces and nephews, including Ned Adams, Jean Ferneding, Marta Barnard and Barbara Peters. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Carol Brower Jespersen; brother, Wesley Jespersen; and sister Eunice Binder, in addition to his dear parents, Henry Jespersen and Martha Paulsen Jespersen. Donald was raised in the small northwestern Iowa towns of Royal and Rossie. His father was a farmer who enjoyed breeding a few cattle and also worked for the highway department during the depression. His mother was one of the first telephone operators in the area. Don was one of five children in the Jespersen family. He remembered his family burning tires in winter for warmth during the blizzard of 1936, but the Jespersens made it through. Still in the nineteen-thirties, Don was working by age 13 as a hired farm hand during the summers to help his family. Don joined the United States Navy during WWII and served in the Pacific as lead sonar operator and shopkeeper aboard the Navy spy and supply ship, USS Tutuilla [TOOTAHWEELAH]. After his honorable discharge from service and coming home in summer of 1946, he attended college for a year or so at Dana College, Nebraska, then went to work in Hampton where he met Carol at the Coonley Café in the late forties. They married and settled in Vinton and Center Point before returning to Hampton to build a life during most of the fifties, sixties, and seventies. In Hampton, Don (also called "Jess") was active in Rotary Club and served for a time as Church President at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. Donald worked nearly his entire professional life at the company known as Farmers' Hybrid, headquartered first in Hampton and later in Des Moines, which resulted in resettling to Indianola in 1976. He rose through the ranks to become the Director of Production (Swine Division) by the time of his retirement from Farmers' Hybrid, later a Monsanto company, in the late seventies. Retirement years included joyous days of boating, golfing, fishing, woodworking, photography, time spent with family, and time spent with nature and animals. Donald was active at his church in Indianola (for example, working on Habitat for Humanity) and he also belonged to a local woodworkers' group. Each time one door closed in older age, another opened, thanks mostly to his own efforts. When he could no longer golf, he emphasized boating; when boating was too much to handle, Don emphasized computer tech and photography. He also kept up with his daughter's writing and took great pride in his grandson's accomplishments, such as graduation from Dartmouth and now working as an attorney. Don's daughter Jean said that "Dad was constantly reinventing himself. When one hobby failed him due to his emphysema or hand tremors, he took on a new one. If old friends had moved or passed on, he made new ones. Dad was outgoing and active to the end." She added that one of his last bits of advice to her was that "You've gotta keep ringin' those bells." Jean adds on behalf of both of her parents, whose deaths were both initiated by smoking earlier in life, "Please don't smoke, or if you do, please work hard to quit. Later on it will count." Memorials may be given in Donald's name to the American Lung Association. Online condolences may be made at www.overtonfunerals.com, or friends may reach out to his daughter at jeanmariebartholomew@gmail.com.