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Don Agrimson | Visitation:
Monday, February 6, 2006
6:30 PM until 8:30 PM
Porter Funeral Home
1704 15th Street P.O. Box 39
Rock Valley, IA 51247
Service:
Tuesday, February 7, 2006
10:30 AM
Faith Reformed Church
Rock Valley, IA
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| | | Rock Valley, IA Donald Agrimson, 87, of West Des Moines, IA, formerly of Rock Valley, died Thursday, February 2, 2006, in his apartment at Arbor Springs. The funeral service will be 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, February 7th, at Faith Reformed Church, Rock Valley, with Rev. Mike Molenaar officiating. Burial will be at Valley View Cemetery, Rock Valley. Visitation will be Monday with family present from 6:30 8:30 p.m. at Porter Funeral Home, Rock Valley.
Don, son of Jacob and Ella (Maland) Agrimson, was born April 18, 1918, near Peterson, Minnesota. In 1930, at the age of 11, he and his family moved to a ranch near Camp Crook, South Dakota, where his parents had homesteaded in their early ‘20s. Don completed high school correspondence classes offered by the American School in Chicago, while herding sheep on the South Dakota prairies with his brother Elmo. He enrolled at Augustana College in 1939. Drafted into the Army in 1941, he arrived in Hawaii, days after the Pearl Harbor bombing. After attending Officers Training School, he served in an engineering unit in the European theater. Don married Bera Jean Halseth on December 29, 1945, near Lake Madison, SD. After completing his BS degree in Civil Engineering in 1948 at South Dakota State, Don and family moved to Pickstown, SD, for the building of the Ft. Randall Dam, a Corps of Engineers project. In 1956, the family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where Don initially worked for the Navy as a civilian employee and then returned to the Corps of Engineers. From 1966-1972, Don served as chief of the Engineering branch in the U.S. Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands, while he and the family lived on the island of Okinawa. They returned to Honolulu where he completed his career with the federal government. In 1986, Don and Jean came back to the Midwest, retiring in Rock Valley. During his retirement, Don worked part time for the City of Rock Valley, supervising municipal projects; he also served from 1990-2001 as city councilman and participated in group morning Bible Studies and Kiwanis. His wife Jean died June 13, 2004; in September of that year, he moved to the Des Moines area.
Don will be remembered by his family as a man of faith, a man of integrity and a husband/father who was devoted to his six women. His family and friends also will remember him for the dedicated service to various church ministries wherever he lived.
Don is survived by his five daughters: Linda (Dave) Kramer of Johnston, IA, Pam (Ken) Thorson of Rock Valley, Michelle (Terry) Meyer of Yucaipa, CA, Lani (Dave) Crawford of San Diego, CA and Donna (Pete) Palmisano of Hobe Sound, FL; 11 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by five sisters: Ann Sondeno of Harlowton, MT; Clarice Friez of Pierre, SD; Blanche Marrer of Foley, AL., Rebecca (Ray) Mathsen of Surprise, AZ. and Ellamae (Hans) Brandau of Polson, MT. Sisters-in-law Cordelia and Cathy Agrimson also survive him.
In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents, and brothers Elmo and Arnold.
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