Shaheen, DeLane

DeLane Shaheen, 88, of 751 Carroll Dr. SE, Cedar Rapids, and Scottsdale, Ariz., died Wednesday, June 13, 2012, at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy, Hiawatha, after a brief illness. Services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, June 16, at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church. Burial will follow in St. George Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 until 7 p.m. Friday at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, where there will be a 7 p.m. Trisagion service. Brosh Chapel in Cedar Rapids is handling arrangements.

DeLane was born Feb. 26, 1924, in Conger, Minn., the son of Thomas and Sophia (Abodeely) Shaheen. He moved to Cedar Rapids at the age of nine and attended Fillmore Grade School and Roosevelt High School (now a junior high). An avid sportsman, Shaheen participated in football, baseball, and track and turned down a football scholarship to help his father in the grocery business. He was selected on the first team All City football team and All State honorable mention his graduating year.

He was the Iowa Light-Heavyweight Golden Gloves Champion in 1943 and represented Iowa in Chicago in the Tournament of Champions. His record as a boxer was 47 wins, two losses, and one draw. Shaheen entered the U.S. Navy in June 1943 and attended Navy Store Keeper School in Farragut, Idaho. He reached the rank of Store Keeper First Class and after being stationed in Hawaii was honorably discharged in May 1946.

Shaheen went into the grocery business in 1947, selling it in 1952, and then bought the Fifth Avenue Tavern. In 1959, he purchased D & E Beer Distributorship. Possessed with a strong work ethic it was one of many business ventures he shared with his brother, Douglas, until his retirement.

After a whirlwind courtship he married his sweetheart, Elaine, on June 29, 1947, and they made their home in Cedar Rapids for an extraordinary 54-year marriage. They had two sons, Dan and DeLane II “Rocky.”

DeLane was a member of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church and Elmcrest Country Club. He was also a member of the Elks, Eagles, Moose, El-Kahir Shrine, Legion Forty & Eight, Hanford Post 5, Cedar Rapids Sports Club, on the board of directors of Local Ducks Unlimited, Iowa Wholesale Beer Distributors Association (past director) and past president of the Cedar Rapids Exchange Club.

Shaheen was a man's man and ladies' man; he had a dazzling smile and an infectious laugh. He loved life, his family and friends, golf, hunting, and fishing, and his philosophy was, “to give is to receive.”

He will be greatly missed but never forgotten.

DeLane is survived by his two sons, Dan Shaheen of New York City and DeLane “Rocky” Shaheen II of Los Angeles, Calif.; brother, Douglas Shaheen of Cedar Rapids; two sisters, Delores Haddy of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Yvonne (Joe) Hidder of Cedar Rapids; and his companion of several years, Patty Kulberg of Scottsdale, Ariz.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Elaine; his parents, Thomas and Sophia Shaheen; and his brothers, Donald Shaheen, Thomas Shaheen and Dennis Shaheen.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 3650 Cottage Grove Rd., Cedar Rapids, IA 52403; Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy, 315 18th Ave., Hiawatha, IA 52233; or the American Cancer Society.

Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.broshchapel.com.

Publisehd June 15, 2012 in The Gazette