Edward Floyd Hampton Jr.

Edward F. Hampton Jr., the former three-time Mayor of De Soto, World-Class Internet Surfer, Sender of Inappropriate Jokes to work emails, BBQ aficionado, and Trump-loving Politico died on Wednesday, February 15, 2017. Visitation will be held 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, February 19, 2017, at McLaren’s Chapel in West Des Moines. Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Monday at McLaren’s followed by burial at Resthaven Cemetery.

Eddie was born on January 4, 1944 in Des Moines, IA to Edward F and Mable M. Hampton. He had an older sister, Myra and two younger brothers, Thompson and Matthew. He was proud to say he grew up in Valley Junction and liked to let people know that his great-grandparents and their family were the 3rd family to settle there. His stories of his youth spent hanging out in the pool hall on 5th Street, riding bikes, lighting M-80 firecrackers and flares, scuttles with some kid who had ringworm, and the family dog, Snoony, were legendary. In high school, he scootered on his Cushman and worked at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, where a lot of shenanigans occurred. He graduated from Valley High School in 1962, and then attended NWMSU and Grandview. He met his future wife Cindy when she was at a sleepover at his cousin Kay’s house. Ed asked her out and wooed her with dinner at McDonald’s and then the movie Goldfinger at the Plantation Drive-In. He married the love of his life, Cindy Hagemann, on March 12, 1966 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in West Des Moines. The first year they were married, he had 19 jobs, much to the chagrin of his mother-in-law, Joyce. In 1969, Ed and Cindy decided to start their family. In September of that year, honyock #1, Jennifer, was born. In 1972, honyock #2, Nicole was born. In 1977, honyock #3, Jacqueline was born. He and Cindy celebrated their 50th anniversary last year. They were each other’s best friends and you rarely saw one of them without the other.

They moved to De Soto in 1976. He ran for Mayor THREE different times and did not win, however, he was appointed the Mayor THREE different times while he was on the City Council. Ed loved De Soto. He was instrumental in building The Little Bridge Park. If you met Ed, you knew that he had been the Mayor of De Soto. Also in 1976, he began working for Bostitch North Central, which was eventually bought by Stanley Tools. He loved his job selling pneumatic nailers and working at various tool shows, which was probably 20% talking tools and 80% eating pizza, drinking beer, and talking bullshit. He had a large territory and traveled most Tuesday-Thursdays to the far reaches of the Midwest selling, schmoozing, and snoring so loudly that neighbors in hotel rooms would call to tell him to knock it off. One neighbor used a knife to stick a note on the door to let him know his displeasure. When he visited the Mercy Sleep Clinic, he was granted the distinction of being the worst snorer they had ever met.

Eddikins was a lover of all things Apple. He bought his first Apple IIe when it came out. He and his childhood friend Jimmy Dearduff would obtain 100’s of floppy discs with games galore. He was a fierce competitor and would never let his girls win a single game. If one of them did beat him, he would stay up and play so that the next time we played, we would see the leader board with all ED. Over the years, he bought the Macintosh Classic, the iMac G3, the iMac G4, the iMac G5, iPods, iPads of all sizes, and recently his Macbook. The only people that probably won’t miss him are the people that work the Apple help desk phone line and the Jordan Creek Genius Bar.

Ed was very proud, and rightly so, of his BBQ abilities. He loved ribs! Almost every one of his birthday meals, except his last one, consisted of ribs and fries. His 70th birthday party was at Smokey D’s and he loved every minute of it, eating BBQ and seeing his friends. He was proud to say that he BBQ’d with his good friends on Team Big Rig BBQ in the First Annual Smokin’ in the Junction BBQ contest. Although they didn’t place in the different groups, he always won first place in his backyard, smoking various meats on his Weber, Egg, or Magnum. Second to BBQ-ing, he loved spending time with his family. We all treasure the Sunday’s spent in De Soto, being together, laughing, and enjoying life.

In 1994, Ed had a quintuple bypass surgery. Dr. Hockmuth told us that it was amazing that his heart didn’t just explode. He hadn’t seen many live through 5 blocked arteries and he didn’t know what a fighter Ed was. Iowa Heart gave Ed 10 years at that time. Almost 23 years later, his heart finally stopped. He didn’t want to leave any of us. At the end of January, when we were told that we should talk about end of life plans, he said that he wished he could have a heart, liver, and kidney transplant. He would have done that if he could have, he didn’t want to go anywhere, but HOME. But did you know, he is a direct descendant of William the Conqueror, so what do you expect? He fought quite a war with his health.

Special Ed loved growing and eating tomatoes, expensive old scotch whiskey, scootering on his tricked out black Vespa 250 with his daughter Jennifer, fishing, shooting clays with his brother Tom, flying kites, floating in his pool - especially at night, spraying weeds, watching the History Channel, especially American Pickers and Counting Cars, cheering on the New York Yankees and the Green Bay Packers, genealogy, the weather, looking for shooting stars and planets, sneaking salt on things, listening to Rush Limbaugh and playing with his dog Beau. He was a fashionable guy, mostly thanks to his wife and daughters. He loved wearing hats and vests in the winter and bowling shirts, cargo shorts, and Keen sandals in the summer. But mostly, he loved his family. He was proud of “all of his girls”. His most favorite girl was his granddaughter Haley Olivia, who was born in 2000. They were best buddies from Day One. He loved her more than anyone or anything, even salt. She is likely the reason we’ve been so lucky to have him as long as we have. He loved watching her grow up and wanted more than anything to see what great things she would do with her life. He was so proud of her and loved being her Papa.

Ed is survived by his wife, Cindy; children, Jennifer of West Des Moines, Nicole of West Des Moines and Jacqueline (Joseph) Steciw of Cedar Rapids; his very special granddaughter, Haley Olivia Hampton; step-grandchildren, Casey, Haley, and Cade Steciw; brothers, Thompson and Matthew; four nieces and two nephews; also dog son, Beau; and granddogs, Levi and Grant.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Edward F. and Mable M. Hampton; sister, Myra Athy; and nephew, Brian Athy. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to the City of De Soto’s 150th Celebration via Earlham Savings Bank, the Mercy Hospice, or the American Heart Association.

His girls would like to thank the guys from City Hall, Shane Boston, all of the nurses who followed the rules and did not use tape on his skin, all of his great friends that called and visited with him. And a special thank you to his best friends (and brothers) Tom and Matt and to his great-niece Bonny for her medical advice and support.

If you see any of us looking lost and heartbroken, it’s because we are. Dad asked me what would we do when he was gone, I told him “go crazy, because you’re the brains of this operation!” He was the person we would turn to for advice on house stuff, car stuff, life stuff, relationship stuff, all stuff. He was the man that his girls have measured all other men against. On Monday, he told me that we “would just figure it out”. We’ll see.