John Schoolen

August 12, 1945 - August 29, 2010

John Irven Schoolen, 65, died of a heart attack August 26, 2010 at Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. He was born August 12, 1945 in Des Moines, Iowa to Merle Andrew and Okla Cole Schoolen. He was raised by Irven and Geraldine (Gerry) Mefford in Albia, Iowa. He attended Maxon Country School until it closed, then went to junior high and high school in Albia, graduating in 1963. He attended Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa on a football scholarship and graduated with a teaching degree in 1967. After college he spent two years in the Army and tested weapons in Vietnam. He was owner-operator of his own construction business. He worked for Chicago Rivet in Albia. In 1984 he started teaching machinist trades at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa. He retired in 2007 from Indian Hills Community College as the Coordinator of Customized Learning. He married Glenda Hughes on August 12, 1972. They had two daughters, Laura VanDerLinden (Mike) of State Center, Iowa, and Lisa Hayward (James) of Albia, Iowa; four grandchildren, Brittany, Rachel, and Seth VanDerLinden, and Claire Hayward. John was an active member of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Albia, having served on the finance and trustee committees, had been chairman of the Administrative Council of Trinity, and was a Tri-Joy Sunday School class teacher. He had been a chairperson on the Monroe County Extension Council, and loved helping with the fishing club. He had been on the Low Income Housing Board, been a member of the Lions Club, and was currently on the Board of Directors for Chariton Valley REC. He had coached Pigtail and Ponytail softball for both of his daughters. He was an avid hunter, fisherman, and enjoyed the winters in Alabama. John was preceded in death by his parents, Merle Schoolen and Okla Giesbrecht, uncle and aunt Irven and Gerry Mefford. John is survived by his wife Glenda, daughters Laura and Lisa, four grandchildren, brother David (Dot) Schoolen of Chowchilla, CA, sisters Marian Crall (Bernard) of Urbandale, IA, and Gerry Kay (Danny) Wasko of Des Moines, IA, and half-brother Robert (Dorene) Schoolen of Coppock, IA, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the Trinity United Methodist Church or the Family Life Center.