Donald M. Starry

Donald M. Starry, 91, of Monticello, formerly of Olin passed away on Monday, September 18, 2023 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids.

A visitation will be held from 4:00-7:00 pm on Thursday, September 21, 2023 at Dawson Funeral Services in Olin. His funeral will be held on Friday, September 22 at 11:00 am at St. John Lutheran Church in Olin. Burial with Military Honors will be at the Olin Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to the Olin Legion immediately following his committal service.

Donald Malvern was born on August 9, 1932 in Jones County, Iowa to Malvern and Hilda (Glick) Starry. He graduated from Olin Consolidated School in 1950. Don faithfully and honorably served in the United States Army during the Korean War. On June 22, 1957 he was united in marriage to the love of his life Jerie Catlett at the Wayne Zion Lutheran Church in Monticello. He was a hard-working farmer for decades raising corn, beans, polled Hereford cattle and hogs. He never hesitated to lend a helping hand to a neighboring farmer, friend or family. While living in Indiana he was a salesman for Terra Chemicals. Once they moved back to Jones County he got a job at Barron Motor Supply in Anamosa as a delivery driver. He was a very active member of the American Legion Blayney Miner Ahrendsen Post 412 of Olin helping at the various events throughout the year like the pancake breakfast, Memorial Day festivities and the famous Rocky Mountain Oyster Feed where Jerie and him housed many families from Wisconsin over the years just for this event. Don cherished his family and loved the many family gatherings where they would have a drink, many laughs and play cards. He was a lifetime Green Bay Packers fan. He played baseball in school and his love for the game grew after marriage where him and Jerie would make several trips into Chicago to watch the Cubs play. Don enjoyed listening to music and you could always find him with a newspaper in his hand after the chores were completed.  He loved to travel and never went somewhere he didn’t know someone. Don was a social guy who liked to travel around Jones County stopping at various taverns to socialize with whoever he ran into. He had a great sense of humor and will be dearly missed by many.

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of over 66 years Jerie, two children; Karen (Brent) Podhaski of Eau Claire, WI, Don (Roxane) Starry of Hartland, WI, seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

He is preceded in death by his parents, two sisters; Phyllis and Bonnie and a daughter Kileen Takes.  

Cards of condolences may be directed to the family at Dawson Funeral Services Attn: Donald Starry Family Po Box 258 Wyoming, Iowa 52362.

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