Foust, John F.

John F. Foust, 90, of Manchester, died Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids following a short illness. Funeral Mass will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 23, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Manchester by the Rev. Greg Bahl. Family will greet friends from 2 to 8 p.m. today at Bohnenkamp-Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Manchester, and one hour before the service Saturday at the church. Burial will be in St. Mary Catholic Cemetery, Manchester.

John was born Dec. 29, 1919, in Zwingle, Iowa, the son of Rudolph and Henrietta (Pancratz) Foust. Attending country school near his home, he helped on the family farm. John married Florence Kemp on Oct. 11, 1939; they were later divorced. Joining the United States Navy on May 31, 1944, he served as a Seaman 1st Class on the USN Tadcen Shoemaker in Panama. Following discharge from the Navy, he worked at Swift Packing Plant in Dubuque. In 1946, he moved to Manchester and started Foust Hatchery which he owned until 1962. He worked for ConAgra in feed sales and was part-owner of Egger Implement (later known as Manchester Farm Equipment) in Manchester. On Aug. 12, 1972, John was united in marriage to Genevieve “Gen” Flanagan. 

John was a member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Manchester, where he was a past Parish Council member. John was a lifetime member of American Legion Post 45 and VFW Post 6637, Knights of Columbus and Fraternal Order of Eagles, where he held all elected offices during his 30-year membership. John enjoyed playing cards, loved horses and had a team of horses and stagecoach that he drove in local parades.

John is survived by his wife, Gen Foust of Manchester; six children, Ron (Margaret) Foust of Atlanta, Ga., Judy (Dennis) Gudenkauf of Manchester, Jerry (Janet) Foust of Watertown, Wis., Richard (Dianne) Foust of Manchester, Robert (Mary Ann) Foust of Urbandale and Mary Jean Uptegraph of Dubuque; two stepsons, Gerald (Judy) Flanagan of Cedar Rapids and Daniel (Penny) Flanagan of Marshalltown; two stepdaughters, Jeanette (Abe) Achenbach and Linda (Nick Stavropoulos, both of Cedar Rapids, 19 grandchildren; 37 great-grandchildren; numerous stepgrand and great-grandchildren; one sister, Joan Arendsdorf of Zwingle; two brothers, Eugene Foust and Carlos (Mary Alvena) Foust, both of Zwingle; and a sister-in-law, Jean Foust of Dubuque.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Rudolph and Henrietta Foust; two sisters, Emily (Howard) Herron and Janet (Al) Kemp; two brothers, Quinten Foust and infant Martin Foust; son-in-law, Dwayne Uptegraph; daughter-in-law, Diana Foust; brother-in-law, Leo Arensdorf; and a sister-in-law, Gerry Foust.

Please sign the online guest book for John at     under obituaries.