John Foster

February 02, 2022

John Foster

Service Details

John W. Foster, 92, passed away on February 2, 2022, at MercyOne Medical Center in Des Moines, six months and one day after his beloved wife, Margaret.

John was born January 7, 1930, in Des Moines to John and Verla (Wilson) Foster. He grew up in Hampton, Iowa, attended Iowa State University, and served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1955. John married his high school sweetheart, Margaret, and raised four children.

One of his favorite places in the world was his basement: his machine shop, wood shop, music room and hidey-hole. John taught machine shop at Des Moines Technical School for 31 years and, as time went by, slowly amassed a prized collection of lathes, mills, drills and other treasures. It was also down there that you could find him "oomphing" on his baritone, tuba or sousaphone; all in his love of music and Dixieland Jazz.

John and Margaret were members of the Early Wheels of Iowa. There was a '31 Buick that all of the grandkids (and some great-grandkids!) loved to go for a ride in. Then there was the '32 "Al Capone Special" Buick that he rescued out of an Iowa corn field. He turned that rusty hulk into a show winning beauty; machining many of the parts down in the basement during the process.

Often you could find him relaxing in his chair, in *his* corner of the living room. Over 47 years many grandchildren and great-grandchildren would sit in Grandpa's lap as he'd read stories. If you were really good, you'd get a couple pieces of Chiclets gum or, when those became hard to find, Big Red. The dining room was full of antique clocks, all hand-repaired by John, and an amazing din filled the air every hour. He and Margaret were also members of the Iowa Genealogical Society and spent countless hours as recordkeepers and re-tellers of family history. They had a succession of miniature schnauzers, of which Heidi was the last.

John was the rock of the family, even when he was more than a little bit of a stick in the mud.

John is survived by his sister, Jan Foster of Iowa Falls; his children, Karin Foster, Kate (Richard) Wolf, Mark (Kim) Foster and (DIL) Candy (Rob) Foster; seven grandchildren; eleven great-grandchildren; and a host of extended family and dear friends. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 70 years, Margaret Foster; his parents; his son, Rob Foster; son-in-law, Richard Wolf; and great-grandson, Damon McManus.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. John will be laid to rest at Union Cemetery in Iowa Falls, Iowa. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Iowa Genealogical Society at iowagenealogy.org.

Condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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