He was born March 6, 1941 in Sac City, IA to Herman “Pete” Dreessen and Catherine (McCauley) Dreessen O’Tool. He leaves behind his wife, Marilyn Murray who he married on August 24, 1973 in Peoria. They have a unique story having met in France during Bob’s military years and were together just shy of 46 years.
Also surviving are daughters, Janice Glasper of Peoria, Kim (John) Morse of Mooresville, NC and Angela (Harvey) Dreessen Mitchell of Christiansburg, VA; grandchildren, Jacob, Kayla and Karter Morse all of NC; siblings, Jerry (Thilieu) Dreessen of Germantown Hills, IL, Ronald (Becky) Dreessen of Burnsville, MN, Maryann (Loren) Thies of Arthur, IA, Shirley Sosalla of Cedar Rapids, IA, Patrick (Alice) O’Tool of Nora Springs, IA, Linda Olson of Mason City, IA, Randy (Lisa) O’Tool of Mason City, IA and Donald (Angela) O’Tool of Clear Lake, IA; and many nieces and nephews.
He is preceded in death by his parents, and brother Charles Dreessen.
Bob loved his family. He was ahead of his time in his value for and encouragement of independence of his wife and “the girls”. He was a unique character with a sharp mind and wit to match. He got much joy from spending time with his grandchildren at all ages. He played in sandboxes with tractors, and went on adventures “kerplunking” rocks in creeks, and could always be counted on to take them out to breakfast. He also loved his Peoria family that he inherited through his marriage. He was a prominent fixture at all the Murray-clan family gatherings, with making his mark as Santa’s elf every Christmas eve. He was an Iowa Hawkeye super fan, avid reader, USCF rated chess player, Vincent motorcycle former owner and enthusiast. Bob was in the US Air Force from 1961 – 1965. He did his basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, then did Heavy Ground Communication and Basic Electronics School at Keesler Air Force Base. He spent the remainder of his time at Chaumont Air Force Base in France and maintained the military communication system in Europe. He then worked for Philco Ford Corp. from 1966 – 1972 where he worked and lived in Thailand, Okinawa, Vietnam, and Laos. He started working at Caterpillar in 1973 until his retirement in 2002. He was a Technician/Lab Engineer that focused on prototype testing. He traveled to England, Belgium and all around the U.S.
A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, August 18, 2019 from 1-3 p.m. at Davison-Fulton Woolsey-Wilton Funeral Home. Memory sharing will be at 1:30 p.m.
Memorial donations may be made to the Sac Community Foundation, Inc., 500 Audubon Street, Sac City, IA 50583. Bob was always frugal and would not want anyone to “waste money” on flowers, but he loved his home town. He helped build the local post office with his grandfather, and one of the grade schools while working with McCorkle.
Online condolences may be made at www.woolsey-wilton.com
