Kelso, Dennis John

Dennis John Kelso, 72, died Friday, June 3, 2011, at the Pleasantview Home in Kalona. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, June 6, at Yoder-Powell Funeral Home in Kalona. Chaplain David L. Yoder will officiate. Burial will be in the Lone Tree Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 tonight at the funeral home.

Dennis was born July 15, 1938, in Iowa City, Iowa, the son of William and Nila (Galloway) Kelso. He graduated from City High School in Iowa City in 1956 and later graduated from the University of Iowa. On April 19, 1958, he married Velma Stubbs; they later divorced. He worked for Shaeffer Pen in Fort Madison, then was hospital administrator for the Department of Psychiatry at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. He worked at Vel Donna in Kalona from 1973-1975, then returned to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, retiring in 1997.

He grew up in Lone Tree, and had lived in New Mexico, Frytown and Iowa City. He had been a resident of Kalona since 2008.

Dennis was a member of the Church of the Nazarene in Iowa City, where he was the choir director for 40 years. He enjoyed gardening and music. He was an avid Cubs and Hawkeye fan.

Dennis is survived by three children, Brian Kelso (Nic) of Kalona, Julie Marshall (Lon) of Kalona and Nancy Kelso of Kansas City, Mo.; nine grandchildren, Kim Sheppard (Dave), Brandon Ropp, Justin Ropp, Jessica Kelso, Jordyn Kelso, Madeleine Marshall, Olivia Marshall, Sophia Marshall and Titus Weikal; three great-grandchildren, Drew Sheppard, Tanna O'Leary and Kendall Sheppard; and two sisters, Mary Lou Bates (Milton) of Oklahoma City, Okla., and Jane Kelso of Iowa City.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and a brother, Dean Kelso.

A memorial fund has been established for the Church of The Nazarene in Iowa City.

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