Darold Dewitt Godfrey

Darold Dewitt Godfrey passed on to be with his heavenly Lord on August 30, 2016, after a long battle with prostate cancer. Darold was born in Des Moines, Iowa on November 7, 1939, to Charles E. Godfrey and Sylvia L. (Dean) Godfrey. He was a very energetic boy and was always looking for ways to make extra money to buy his favorite comic books. He delivered papers for the Des Moines Register, shoveled walks in the winter, raked leaves in the fall and sold fruit and vegetables in the summer. As a young man, Darold was a Sea Explorer, active in church activities, and loved to roller skate. Darold graduated from Des Moines Technical High School and after attending classes at Drake and Grand View, he graduated from Iowa State University with a BS in Engineering Operations. He spent his career working as an Industrial/Manufacturing Engineer at IBM, Arctic Enterprises, J.I. Case-IH, and Champion Spark Plug.

He met Janice A. Peters at First Methodist Church in Des Moines and they were married on June 6, 1964 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Lizard Township near Palmer, IA.

Darold was active in his community, especially in the Burlington area where he resided for 30 years. He was a charter volunteer with the Great River Bridge walk/run event in Burlington. He refereed many girls’ volleyball games around the area and was an official scorer and timer at middle-school basketball games. He enjoyed playing golf, gardening, mushroom hunting, singing in the church choir, attending men’s bible study, playing pickleball, and spending time with his grandchildren. He also enjoyed winters at Roadhaven in Apache Junction, AZ.

Darold is survived by his wife, Jan of West Des Moines, IA; his two daughters, Jodi Castillo (Luis) of Clive, IA, Janell Kallenbach (Mark) of Norwalk, IA; and five grandchildren, Julian Castillo, Mariel Castillo, Reid Kallenbach, Lily Kallenbach, and Anya Kallenbach. Darold is also survived by a sister, Donna Mae Hukill of West Des Moines, IA; two brothers, Dennis Godfrey (Shirley) of Keller, TX, and Douglas Godfrey (Patty) of Urbandale, IA.

Visitation will be held Friday, September 2, 2016 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hamilton’s on Westown Parkway, 3601 Westown Parkway in West Des Moines and the funeral service on Saturday, September 3 at 11 a.m. at St. Mark Lutheran Church, 1115 Grand Ave. in West Des Moines.

Memorial contributions may be directed to St. Mark Lutheran Church, Kid’s First Law Center of Cedar Rapids or the Oncology Nurse Navigators program at John Stoddard Cancer Center. Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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