Gale Chatterton

Gale was born on June 16, 1944 in Cherokee, Iowa to Harley Herschel Chatterton and Laura Helen (Park) Chatterton. He was raised in Peterson, Iowa and graduated from Iowa State University in 1967. While at ISU, Gale was active in the ISU Marching Band and he began a life-long engineering career at John Deere as a co-op student. Upon graduation, Gale entered the US Army.

Gale married Sue Isenberger, his college sweetheart, on June 1, 1968. Their honeymoon was spent driving from Iowa to the Panama Canal Zone, where Gale was stationed in the US Army as a 01C20 Mechanical Engineering Assistant. They resided there for one year, later living in Johnston and Ankeny, Iowa.

After returning from Panama, Gale resumed his career at John Deere and simultaneously earned his Master’s degree from Drake University in 1974. After his formal retirement from John Deere, he returned to work two more times as a contractor and retired for the third and final time in December of 2018.

Gale was a member of the ISU Alumni Band for the past 38 years where he served a period of time as the President. He was also extremely active in the ISU Alumni Pep Band. In September of 2018, Gale was honored as the “band’s biggest fan” and had the privilege of being a guest conductor of the ISUCF’V’MB ahead of a home football game. Gale was also active in the Ankeny Community Chorus, Ankeny Community Band, Greater Des Moines Community Band and Iowa Military Veteran’s Band. Gale enjoyed driving his Corvettes for fun and in parades, and was a member of the Cyclone Corvette Club.

In recent years, Gale became quite the world traveler. He visited France, Italy, China, Switzerland and Peru, made repeated theater trips to New York and enjoyed several cruises. One of Gale’s more recent hobbies involved making beautiful stained glass snowflakes for family and friends.

Gale is survived by daughter Corrie (Hale) Strasser of Johnston, sister Julia Knutson of Texas, brother Mark Chatterton of Maryland, brother-in-law Kenny Isenberger of Colorado, brother-in-law Lynn Isenberger of Johnston, brother-in-law Brent Isenberger (Julie West) of Altoona and grandchildren Harrison and Erich Strasser of Ames. Gale was preceded in death by his sister Lorna, parents and wife.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, January 16th from 5-7pm with family present and the visitation will be followed by a prayer vigil at Ankeny Funeral Home. A memorial mass will be held on Thursday, January 17th at 10:30am at Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Catholic Church (510 East 1st St. Ankeny, IA). Inurnment will take place at a future date at the Clarion Catholic Cemetery in Clarion, Iowa.

Memorial contributions may be made to the ISU Marching Band (c/o the ISU Foundation at 2505 University Boulevard, PO Box 2230, Ames, Iowa 50010). Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AnkenyFuneralHome.com for the Chatterton family.