Joe Mather

Joe Mather
March 16, 1921 - June 15, 2005
Webster, Iowa
Funeral Service: 10:00 a.m. June 18, 2005 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church
Joe H. Mather was born March 16, 1921 at Coatsville, Missouri, the son of John Edgar and Nancy Bell Nelson Mather. He attended rural school in Missouri. Joe served in the U.S. Army from September 17, 1942 to October 1, 1945 as a heavy truck driver in the European theater. He was united in marriage to Helen Maxine Gage on May 23, 1946 at the Scared Heart Catholic Church in Kinross, Iowa. Farming was Joe's life to the end. No other calling had more value, worth or meaning than farming. Joe's life was rooted into the black soil of the ground as were the crops that he raised year after year. He took great pride in caring for his livestock. He was a member of the James Murphy Post American Legion and our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. Joe died following a short illness on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at the Keokuk County Health Center in Sigourney, Iowa at the age of 84 years, 2 months and 30 days. Joe is survived by his loving wife of 59 years Maxine; four daughters: Judy (Don) Peiffer of Packwood, Linda ( Wayne) Cranston of Keswick, Nancy (Dave) Tremmel of Amana and Cathy Mather ( fiancé Mike McGriff) of New Sharon; a son: Larry Mather (fiancee Vergene Schmidt) of Webster; 16 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren; two sisters Bessie Ruggles of North English and Colleen Kiefer of Keswick. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother James E. Mather and a sister Edna Slonaker and three sisters and two brothers in infancy. Celebration of Life Service will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, June 18, 2005 at the our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Keswick. Fr. Philip Ryan will officiate. Burial is in the Sorden Cemetery with military rites. Visitation will be Friday at the Powell Funeral Home and Cremation Service in North English from 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. with the family present for 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Memorials are for the Keokuk County Hospice. Messages and tributes may be left at www.powellfuneralhomes.com under obituaries