Jo Seaman Drechsler died Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at Ridgecrest Retirement Village. Memorial services will be held 11:00am Friday February 22, 2019 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, with family greeting friends from 10:00am till the time of the service. Memorials may be made to the family for the purchase of a bench at VanDeVeer Park, Camp Shalom or the Madison School Initiative through St. Paul Lutheran Church.
Jo was born on September 21, 1920 in Davenport, Iowa to Linnie (Seaman) and Joseph B. Drechsler. He attended Madison Elementary, J.B. Young Junior High and Davenport High School, graduating in 1938. While in high school, Jo met his future wife (Carma Gruenau) in chemistry club. After graduating high school, Jo attended Iowa State College to study chemistry. At Iowa State he was state handball champion, and in the ROTC, where he received many awards for marksmanship. After the death of his mother, Jo returned to Davenport and began working as a chemist/metallurgist at Riverside Foundry.
Jo married Carma Gruenau on March 14, 1941, and started a family. In June of 1944 Jo enlisted in the Army. He was selected for OTC/Infantry school. He then served with the 384TH MP Battalion S-4 in Linz, Austria until discharge on October 1946. One of the memories of his time in Austria was in St. Moritz filling in for a missing Olympic team member and setting the official world bobsled record!
After the war, Jo trained at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and returned to his job at the foundry, now called Sivyer Steel Casting Company, to become an industrial radiographer. He also finished his BA at Augustana College under the GI Bill.
Jo was commanding officer of the Army Reserve unit in Davenport and retired with the rank of Colonel.
He was also active in Boy Scouts into adulthood, achieving the Eagle Scout award at age 14 and the Silver Beaver Award as an adult. He had fond memories of canoeing the Boundary Waters and spending time at Philmont Scout Ranch.
Jo was a lifelong active member of St. Paul Lutheran Church. He served as President of the Council, was a Sunday school teacher, and was involved with many committees and projects. He helped to found Camp Shalom in Maquoketa, and worked there many years building cabins and trails. He could identify every tree at VanDeVeer Park and shared his knowledge with many elementary school children.
Jo was a gifted woodworker. He could often be found down in his basement workshop carving, building or painting some fabulous piece of artwork. He carved beautiful lifelike leaves, he built wooden barns and other toys for his grandchildren, he created fantastic replicas of many old barns and other buildings from cardboard (often old cereal boxes!). Jo and Carma made Swedish Valentines hearts for family, friends and Veterans.
Jo loved the natural world, he and his family enjoyed tent camping across the US for many years.
In retirement Jo and Carma continued traveling, taking trips to Europe, Russia, China and Japan. Also in retirement Jo volunteered at Madison School to help children with the Listen to Me Read Program. He was a beloved Grandpa Jo to many children and their teachers for 11 years.
Jo was a remarkable and amazing man-smart, kind, quiet, funny and devoted to his wife and family and friends.
Jo is survived by his daughter Carol (Loren) Conrad of Albion, IA, and son Christopher (Natacha) of St. Paul, MN; grandchildren Jane (Jay) Jessen, Bernadette Drechsler, Andrew Chace, Emily (David) Smesrud, Erin (Kirk) Conrad-Schwarte, Kristin Conrad and Joel Conrad; great grandchildren Jakob Jessen, James Jessen, Elenora Smesrud and William Smesrud; and many nieces and nephews.
Jo was preceded in death by his parents, sisters Wilma, Betty and Louise; brother Edward; his wife of 76 years Carma; sons Jo and Larry; daughter Celia; grandson Jo R. Drechsler and great –grandson Daniel Kirk Schwarte.
Heartfelt thanks to the staff at Ridgecrest who so lovingly cared for Jo and Carma these past few years.
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