John Edward Cisar, Jr.
September 20, 2012
John Edward Cisar, Jr., 50, died suddenly Thursday, September 20, 2012, while cycling near Adel. He was born October 3, 1961, to John and Claudia Cisar in Omaha, Nebraska.
John graduated from Omaha South High School, and attended Iowa State University where he studied Information Technology. He worked many years for the City of Des Moines and most recently for Greenstar America Recycling, both in the IT department.
John was a true thespian and was a member of the Comedy Xperiment Improv Troupe. He co-founded the Incoherent Theater Company and wrote, produced, and starred in a British trilogy called Nigel and Bridgett. John appeared in several plays at the Des Moines Playhouse including Escanaba N Da Moonlight and was a guest performer for Central College in the leading role in Murdered to Death.
John was an avid bicyclist. He participated in numerous RAGBRAIs and once rode his bicycle to Canada. John also enjoyed baking his own bread and spending time with his family.
John is survived by his wife, Jennifer; daughter, Caitlin Cisar; step-children, Cecelia and Cody McGinn; parents, John and Claudia Cisar; sister, Debbie (Greg) Marzullo; niece, Kylee Marzullo; Abbey the beagle; and many beloved friends.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m., Wednesday, September 26, 2012, at Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway, 3601 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines. Family will greet friends 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, at the funeral home.
As we all understandably grieve the tragic loss of our beloved Husband, Father and Friend John, he would want us to remember him for the life and deep love he brought to everyone he knew, and he would want everyone left behind to go forth and while never forgetting to continue on our journeys here, he would want for all of us “To Live Long and Prosper.”
Memorial contributions may be made to the family.
Online condolences may be expressed at:
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com
Rebecca Ramsey - Greenstar OKC
09/27/2012
John, may you sing and dance with the Angels above. You were truely a good spirit; always so friendly and willing to help with any issues we had with our computers. I enjoyed working with you at Greenstar. Your presence and intelligence will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with your family during their grief. God bless you all.
Jim, Erin & Jay Novak
09/26/2012
I thoroughly enjoyed working with John at Mid America Recycling. He was always willing to help and very knowledgeable about computers. I was a constant thorn in his side because of the enormous amount of space my marketing stuff took up on the server - HA! John had such a contagious laugh - and was always up to something funny. We had a blast working together on the big company-wide (i.e. "family") meeting. He put in clips from funny movies to make sure the PPTs didn't get to boring - and his stuff was a hit (as usual!). So sad, no words for his sudden departure. My heart goes out to John's family. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Jake DeGard/ American Business Phones
09/25/2012
My condolences go out to the family and everyone who had the pleasure of knowing John. I was not a close friend to john but had the pleasure of working with him on several occasions. We spoke quite often as a matter of fact about upcomming jobs at Greenstar. I will certainly miss him and will always remember him for who he was, a great person. Jake
Ed and Becki Clearwater
09/25/2012
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.
Ceilie (Cooley) Robertson
09/25/2012
I went to school with John and he was always such a nice person. He was so intelligent that he would explain things to me when I was confused. Obviously he was the type of person that influenced your life for the better and in a way that you never forgot him. I always looked up to him and admired him. I am so sorry for your sudden loss. May God be with you all through these difficult times.
Larry Mahlstedt
09/25/2012
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Cisar family.
Mike Bruce - City of Des Moines
09/24/2012
Unfortunately words can not truely express the shock, sadness, and empty feeling which enveloped us upon hearing of John's sudden passing. I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to work side-by-side with John for 7 years in the City's IT department. Not only was he good at his work, but he made our work more like a wonderful hobby...one you would continue, even if you won the lottery.
John enthralled us with his improv and plays, and was just as captivating in our day to day lives. He educated me in cycling while I was running marathons, although he steadfastly refused to run anwhere he could pedal...and he could pedal just about anywhere he wanted to go.
He and I were both Iowa Staters, and had both lived in Omaha. Unfortunately, I had as much success getting him to stop rooting for Nebraska as I did getting him to start running. If you saw any new Big Red gear laying around, you just new it was John's. Of course, he would still support the Cyclones, as long as they weren't playing his Huskers.
I send his family my heartfelt condolences, in this time of great sorrow and loss. I truly regret not staying closer after he left the City. Too often we don't know what a treasure we have until we lose it. For those of us who had the pleasure to know him, we have lost a great coworker, friend, and entertainer. Hail Cisar.
Connie Ashby-Stinson CityOfDesMoines
09/24/2012
To Johns Family, I am truly sorry for your loss and completely shocked to hear of Johns early departure as were so many of us. Our sincere sympathy goes out to his family. We hope the memories you all have of John make you smile when you least expect it, comfort you when you feel alone, and bring laughter to you and others as you share your stories with each other.
John brought back the lost Art of Story Telling. He would write some off the wall story and send it out and you could just picture this story all in your head. There was this one time. John was riding his bike down to Mo. and passed a field of goats Or the day by day emails from RAGBRI that you just knew had to be true, then only to find out that he dreamed them up in his head and pre-scheduled them to be delivered each day. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between fact and fiction and thats what made John so remarkable.
John will truly be missed.
Alan Olesky
09/24/2012
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you. Being at the Greenstar location in NJ, I didn't have the opportunity to know him very well but John was always kind and helpful. My sincere condolences
Tori-Love Merryman
09/24/2012
I am so very for your loss and our loss for a wonderful co-worker. I only had the pleasure of visiting with him on the phone in our shared time at Greenstar, but he was always so helpful, thoughtful and just a truly fun man to visit with. My deepest sympathies to the Cisar family.
Virginia Smith, DM Valley Friends
09/23/2012
Jennifer:
I am so very sorry for your loss, both to you and your family.
Brian R. Johnson
09/23/2012
I only knew John through his work, and it saddens me that I will never get to know him personally. His untimely departure should serve as a reminder to all of us that we must live life to the fullest and pursue our art with vigor, what ever it may be. Just as he did.
Dennis Lambing
09/23/2012
Jen and Family,
On behalf of the entire Comics In Action troupe, please accept our sincerest & humblest of apologies for your sudden loss. We had only worked with John... over a rather short period of time... but, know that he was was one of the kindest of men, who helped make us feel "more than welcome" during the last few Iowa Improv Festivals. John was an "improv" force to be reckoned with... a man we truly respected for not only his kindness, but his talent as well.
We're with John B... All Hail John Cisar and farewell. Chip Up!
Yvette Belmudez-Lawrence
09/22/2012
I went to Jr. High with John and it was so nice to reconnect on Facebook after all these years. I loved reading John's posts about the theater and plays. My deepest sympathies to the Cisar family.
John Butz
09/22/2012
I didn't have the chance to work with John as often as I wanted to--or needed to (for my psyche). Always cheerful, always prepared and usually seeing life at just an odd enough angle to make every moment spent in his company a pleasure. He leaves an empty place in so many lives . . .fortunately he also leaves many, many wonderful memories -- three legged tap dances, Nigel and the list goes on. Hail Cisar and farewell. Chip up!