Doug’s father passed on the 19th of April. Doug wrote to us:
Hi Dave —
Thank you for your kind note. It would be fine to list the obituary.
When I spoke at his funeral I wore a “Hawkeye” tie with large diagonal black and gold stripes that he had left behind in my parents last home prior to moving to an assisted living facility. When I found the tie in a closet in their home, I asked him if I could have it, and he said sure, he didn’t have much use for ties at this stage of his life. At the funeral, I took the tie off and laid it across the top of the pulpit and said this tie and these colors symbolized so much in his life. The University of Iowa was what drew him to Iowa City, where he received a degree and was subsequently employed for many years. All of his children also received degrees from the U of I.
The black and gold could also symbolize his youth, where he lived on a farm in Muscatine county and the rich black soil yielded a bounteous harvest of golden corn and oats. In his adult years, we lived on 7 acres of land west of Iowa City, and he was a gardener extraordinaire, and the rich black soil there also yielded a bounteous harvest which included exotic species such as golden raspberries and golden tomatoes. In the weekend where we celebrated his life and mourned his loss, the black symbolized our sadness at no longer having him with us, but the gold symbolized the radiant smiles of people coming together across the miles and the years to reconnect in his honor.
In concluding, I asked those assembled to recall the movie, “Field of Dreams”, where “Shoeless” Joe Jackson walked out of the cornfield and sees the newly constructed baseball field and asks: “Is this Heaven?” And as any true Iowan would know, the girl responds, “No…it’s Iowa.” I think my father was trying to construct his version of Heaven on Earth with what he developed on our property, but the true Heaven on Earth he experienced was the love he was shown by so many people during his declining time.
Here is his father’s obituary, offered as a tribute to his life:
Herbert L. Hetzler, 87, of Muscatine, died on Thursday, April 19, 2012, at Sunnybrook of Muscatine.
A Celebration of Life Service was held on April 23, 2012, at Sweetland United Methodist Church. Reverend Jim Turner of the Sweetland United Methodist Church officiated.
Memorials may be made to the Sweetland United Methodist Church Memorial Fund or Iowa Hospice.
Herbert was born on September 6, 1924, in Muscatine County, the son of Eugene and Gertrude Raub Hetzler. He married Martha L. Kemper on July 19, 1953, at the Sweetland United Methodist Church.
He was a graduate of the University of Iowa.
A veteran of the US Army, Herbert served from 1946-1949, during World War II in the Pacific Theater.
He worked as a chemist in the medical labs at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, and the clinic in Oakdale.
He was a member of the Phi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, University of Iowa I Club, and was an active member at Sweetland United Methodist Church and was an avid Hawkeye fan.
He loved to garden and growing strawberries, sweet corn, and tomatoes were his specialties.
Those left to honor his memory include his wife, Martha Hetzler of Muscatine; two sons, Douglas Hetzler and wife Suzanne, of Soquel, Calif., and Byron Hetzler of Granby, Colo.; one daughter, Debra Keely and husband, Stan, of Longwood, Fla.; six grandchildren, Elizabeth Leon Ramirez and husband, Leo, Patrick Keely and wife, Leslie, Jeffrey Keely, Connor Hetzler, Emily Hetzler, and Erik Hetzler; one great-granddaughter, Kaylyn Leon Ramirez; and one brother, Wilbur Hetzler and wife, Marion, of Muscatine.
He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Marian Ide; and four brothers, Albert, Edgar, Wayne, and Marvin Hetzler.