John Strawn

JOHN STRAWN

Vinton

John T. Strawn of Des Moines passed away Saturday, Feb. 15, 2014, at Taylor House Hospice in Des Moines from complications of cancer.

Mr. Strawn was born Dec. 14, 1938, in Des Moines, son of Olive Keeler Strawn and John T. Strawn Jr. In 1957, he graduated from Van Horne Consolidated Schools, Van Horne, Iowa. He continued his education at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, where he graduated cum laude in 1961 as a history major and member of the national honorary scholastic society Phi Beta Kappa.

His Cornell experience included spending one semester studying American Government at American University in Washington, D.C.

Following three years of service in the U.S. Army Security Agency, some time of which was spent in Eritrea on the Horn of East Africa, Mr. Strawn attended the University of Iowa Graduate College of Business, then owned and operated variety, grocery and gift stores in Vinton, New Hampton and West Des Moines.

In 1986, Mr. Strawn relocated to San Diego, Calif., and later Santa Maria, Calif., where he worked for retail research and merchandising firms. In 2009, Mr. Strawn returned to the Midwest to retire in Des Moines.

Mr. Strawn was preceded in death by his mother in 1998 and his father in 2007.

He is survived by his sister, Mary and husband Richard Gaskins of Mankato, Minn.; his sister, Melinda and husband Jerry McCarty of Hackensack, Minn.; two nieces; three nephews; two great-nephews and one great-niece.

At his request, there will be no services.

Memorials may be sent to Allan Hancock College Foundation, Santa Maria, CA 93454; to either the William Heywood Endowed Scholarship Fund or the Stephen Lacey Endowed Scholarship Fund at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA 52314; or Taylor House Hospice, 3401 East Douglas Ave., Des Moines, IA 50317.