Tilson, Morris L. 'Butch'

Morris L. “Butch” Tilson, 71, of Waverly, died Sunday, May 26, 2013, at Bartels Lutheran Retirement Community from pancreatic cancer.

Butch was born at Vinton, Iowa, on April 16, 1942, the youngest child of Everett Franklin and Doris Leila (Kizer) Tilson. Butch grew up on farms south and then north of Vinton and attended country school, and then Vinton Schools until his graduation from Washington High School in 1960.

While in high school, Butch was a class officer and an active member of FFA, having served as president, and was also an active member of the FFA parliamentary procedure and judging teams. He received the DeKalb Award and the Iowa Farmer Degree and was a member of the Vinton's 1959 WAMAC co-champion football team. Following high school, he worked briefly as a carpenter and then became employed by Cromer Distributing Company. On Aug. 4, 1962, he was united in marriage to Peggy Ohde in Vinton. He later became employed by Me-Jon Inc. in Vinton, which became Terra International. Promotions with Terra took the family from Vinton to Strawberry Point, Waverly, Sun Prairie, Wis., Dubuque, Cedar Falls and Sioux City, and jobs ranging from seasonal help, to vice president of the corporation, which had by then grown into a Fortune 500 Company. While employed by Terra, he received many awards and honors and was most proud of being awarded the Honorary Chapter Farmer Degree from the Starmont FFA Chapter while in Strawberry Point. He worked in the agribusiness field his entire life.

He was a member of the Christian, Presbyterian and United Methodist Churches during his lifetime, as well as a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Order of the Eastern Star. He was also a member of the Strawberry Point Fire Department and served as fire chief for that community. Butch enjoyed barbershop quartet singing, the Statler Brothers, photography, fishing, growing roses, keeping his yard in immaculate condition and his lake home in Nashua. But most of all, he thoroughly enjoyed being Grandpa.

Butch is survived by his children, Jeff (Kelly) Tilson of Vinton and Dawn Tilson of Polk City; grandsons, Drake and Devon Tilson of Vinton; sister-in-law, Phyllis Tilson of Kensett; brother-in-law, Vernon Kuhn of Walker; brother and sister-in-law, Doug and Scarlett Ohde of Grand Lake, Colo.; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Peggy; his parents; brothers, Everett Tilson Jr. in infancy and Robert Tilson; and a sister, Lorna (Kuhn).

Visitation will be held Friday, May 31, at the Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home in Waverly where the family will greet friends from 5 to 8 p.m. with a Masonic Service at 7:30 p.m. and also one hour before the service on Saturday. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Kaiser-Corson Funeral Home in Waverly with Pastor Al Bidne officiating. Burial will follow at Maplewood Cemetery in Vinton.

Memorials may be directed to the Virginia Gay Hospital Tree of Lights Campaign and online condolences may be left at .

Published in The Gazette May 28, 2013.