Floyd Begin

FLOYD BEGIN

Iowa City

Floyd Charles Begin, 86, passed away peacefully in Iowa City on Aug. 13, 2015, after a long illness. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at St. Mary's Catholic Church, Iowa City, with Father Jeff Belger officiating. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 21, at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, Iowa City. Burial will take place at Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the St. Ambrose Foundation.

Floyd was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 12, 1929. He attended Cathedral Latin School, where he was an all-around athlete, playing football, baseball, basketball and track. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Dayton with minors in psychology, philosophy, economics and French.

After college, he served in Korea with the Air Force and received several medals of commendation and helped set up an orphanage there. Floyd then went to France to work with NATO forces, focusing on logistics, communication, personnel systems, accounting, budgeting and internal auditing in Eastern France. There, he met the love of his life, Antoinette Gascard, who was employed as a lawyer with NATO Forces, and they wed in 1955.

From 1966 to 1984, Floyd was a senior management analyst with AMETA (Army Management Engineering Training Agency) at the Rock Island Arsenal, where he conducted organizational studies and taught management and executive development courses with private and government executives in several countries. During this time, he obtained his master's and Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He retired from government service in 1984.

From 1984 until retirement in 2005, Floyd was professor and associate dean of students at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, where he helped establish its MBA program and was counselor and mentor to hundreds of students. He was named Regional Adviser of the Year by Delta Sigma Pi international business fraternity and served as adviser for Theta Omicron for six years. He also taught evening classes in several outreach programs for the Florida Institute of Technology.

In retirement, Floyd devoted his time to hunting, fishing and gardening, as well as creating a lot of fond memories for his grandchildren. In his last years, he became a tireless and devoted caretaker for his wife, Antoinette. He dedicated many hours to researching and donating to over 100 charities and was generous of his time and money to many in need.

Floyd and Antoinette celebrated their 60th anniversary on June 11 of this year. He was an avid storyteller and always had wonderful memories and anecdotes to offer to whomever he met.

He will be sorely missed by his family, his friends and his community.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Leroy and Catherine Begin; and his younger siblings, Mary Handley, James Begin, Leroy Begin Jr., Sheila Zimmerer and Eugene Begin.

He is survived by his wife, Antoinette; children, Laurence (Clark) McFerren, Pierre (Lisa) Begin and Helene (Theodore) Donta; siblings, Robert Begin, Lenore Begin, Jerome Begin, Laura Begin, Daniel Begin, Barbara Campbell and Madonna Tkachyk; grandchildren, David McFerren, Eric McFerren, Andre Begin, Analise Begin, Alexandra Begin, Sophie Donta, Maxsam Donta and Nikolas Donta; and great-granddaughter, Astrid McFerren.

Online condolences may be left for Floyd's family at www.lensingfuneral.com.