Dale Rademaker
Dale D. Rademaker, 90, of Waukon died Wednesday, May 30, 2018 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Memorial services with military honors were held Saturday, June 2 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon with Pastor Bill Odermann officiating. Inurnment was at Greenwood Cemetery, rural Westgate.
Dale DuWayne Rademaker was born August 22, 1927 in Westgate, the son of Adrian and Maude W. (Hollenback) Rademaker. In 1944, he graduated from Maynard High School and then enlisted in the Air Corps Reserve; in 1945, Dale joined the U.S. Naval Medical Corps School and was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1946, as a Pharmacist Mate, 3rd Class. Dale then attended Upper Iowa University in Fayette, graduating in 1950.
Throughout his career, Dale lived in many places. From 1950-1960, he was a salesman for Goodyear and Uniroyal Tire Companies and moved around from Oelwein, Des Moines, Webster City and Mason City in Iowa, Austin, MN and Detroit, MI. For about 20 years, Dale was in Cedar Rapids working for H.D. Lee Company, until 1980.
October 1, 1971, he married Pearl Ann Hawf Leist. After leaving Cedar Rapids, he and Ann moved to Palm Harbor, FL, where Dale was a real estate broker. In 1995, they returned to Iowa and lived on the Mississippi River, finally moving to Waukon in 1997.
Dale belonged to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Waukon and the VFW and American Legion. He liked to golf, scoring three holes-in-one in his lifetime, and was a member of the Waukon Country Club. Dale also enjoyed boating and fishing from their weekend home on the Mississippi, going for drives through the Allamakee County countryside and playing cards. He also had his pilot’s license.
He is survived by his wife, Ann, of Waukon; his son, David (Sandy) Rademaker of Cedar Rapids; two stepsons, Terry (Carol) Leist of Bozeman, MT and Timothy (Rachel) Leist of Iowa City; his grandchildren, Chris (Shelley) Emmons and Andrea (David) Carlson; his step-grandchildren, Jacob and Alexa Leist; his great-grandchildren, Grace and Leah Emmons and Cooper Carlson; and his sister-in-law, Doris Rademaker of Fayette.
Dale was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Julie Flesner; and his siblings, Adrian (Abe) Rademaker, Eleanore Long, Marge (Paul) Artis, Jean (Fred) Wetlaufer and Betty (Robert) Turney.
Online condolences may be left at www.martinfunerals.com.
