Dean Button

Dean Button, at the age of 95, passed peacefully, and met His Savior on Monday, March 11th.

Dean Richard Button, born June 22, 1928 to Ruben Waldo, (better known as R.W.) and Frances (Miller) Button, grew up with brothers, Glen and Dale and a sister, Gladys on a Hardin County farm in Eldora, Iowa.

He leaves behind his wife of 76 years, Waneta. He is also survived by his children: Richard (Kathy), Linda, Carol (Lanny), Dan (Mary), and Doug (Vicki), bonus kids, Mike and Deb Culp, his 14 grandchildren and their spouses, and 41 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

Dean was a farmer, mechanic, pastor, electrician, and church-planting missionary but his most prominent "position" was dedicating his life in service to the Lord. He and Waneta served faithfully wherever God led them and have been their family's biggest prayer warriors, leaving a legacy of faith for generations.

III John 1:4

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in truth.

Services will take place on Saturday, March 16 at 10:30 A.M. at Center Street Baptist Church in Marshalltown. He will be laid to rest at Rose Hill Cemetery in Grundy Center. Friends and family are also invited to attend a visitation on Friday, March 15 from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M. at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home in Marshalltown. In lieu of flowers, the family would like donations made out to them and they will be disbursed to the organizations Dean designated. For additional questions or condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call 641-844-1234.

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Dean and Waneta (Boren) Button

Dean Richard Button, born 6-2-1928 to Ruben Waldo, better known as R.W., and Frances (Miller) Button) grew up with Glen and Dale and a sister Gladys on a Grundy County farm, Eldora, Iowa.

Waneta Arlene (Boren) Button, born 11-08-1928 to Emory and Mabel (Hockey) Boren, and grew up with 3 brothers and 4 sisters, Marjorie, Harry, Rose, Robert, Priscilla, Darlene and Donald, on an acreage on the west edge of Grundy Center, Iowa. Waneta was third from oldest, between Harry and Rose.

Dean attended Melrose number 2 country school through 8th grade, then attended Eldora High School where he graduated in 1946. Waneta was schooled K through 12th grades in Grundy Center, where she graduated in 1947.

We met on a blind date. One of Dean's graduating friends had a date with Waneta's sister, Rose who arranged the date for Dean on the night of Dean and friend's senior banquet and dance (didn't have proms back in the dark ages). Since Dean didn't dance and the friend had a date with Rose, they cut out after the banquet and that is where Dean and Waneta's 70 year anniversary had root. Waneta still had another year of high school but during that year Dean made a proposal asking her, “would she like to be a farmer's wife and ride in a new 1947 Chevy convertible (he had his name in for one with no money put down for it)?” She said yes and received her engagement ring on the night of her graduation. She however did attend Summer School at Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois. The wedding took place in the lvester Church of the Brethren Parsonage, Grundy Center, Iowa (a country church setting) on July 29,1947 with parents and Waneta's friend Louise Calton as her attendant and Willis Grimmius (who Louise was engaged to and later married) as Dean's Best Man. By the way, Dean's mother had to sign a permit for Dean to marry because he was 19 (not of age until 21).

Waneta was a farmer's wife for 3 years (Dean farmed 80 acres and worked out in the winters, de-tasseled corn, bailed hay and helped his brother Glen with his farming (actually Glen was Dean's second dad as their dad had deserted the family when Dean was 4). Thankfully we had both trusted Christ as our Savior at the ages of 12 or 13 and, to make a long story a little shorter, Dean started going to First Baptist Church, Grundy Center, Iowa to shut Waneta up and get her off his back. After they had their first child, Richard, Waneta wanted their children in her church where the Bible was taught to be the Word of God in its entirety, from Genesis through Revelation as the inerrant, inspired Word of God. After attending with Waneta for some time, Dean decided that the Baptists had held on to a more fundamental, conservative view of the mission that Christ has given to His Church to carry on the Evangelization of the world and bring glory to God.

During the first 10 years Richard, Linda, Carol and Daniel were born. I don't have to tell you what Waneta was busy doing, but she got along living in a farm house without a phone, a car, running water and, of course, air conditioning. The last house we lived in before moving to Omaha was Fred Draper's little house that did have running water (but drinking water had to be carried from Draper's well) if Dean filled the leaking cistern once a month with 400 feet of borrowed hoses gathered up from family and neighbors. After farming and working out part time Dean decided to work on the farm full time and let Glen farm Uncle Orrie Miller's 80 acres. Dean's first full time job was with Clarke Hybrid Corn Company, Conrad, Iowa, where he worked 4 years. After a try at selling Cen Pe Co Oils, basically to farmers, for a few months he decided that was not for him. He then ran a mechanical repair shop on his own in Bert Kaiser's Case Dealership, Grundy Center, Iowa, a job he enjoyed, but without a good regular pay check coming in, it was back to a steady income job. I do not remember the year, but I do remember the Labor Day holiday that I started to “labor”(work) for Conrad Sales Company owned by Dillman Daggett where I worked for 3 plus years.

As a family we had been attending our GARBC (General Association of Regular Baptist Churches) family camp at Clear Lake for a few years and in the camp of 1955, the Lord led Dean and Waneta to dedicate their lives to serve the Lord on a fulltime basis. We had already been hearing about, and seeing people associated with Omaha Baptist Bible Institute (which became Omaha Baptist Bible College and later Faith Baptist Bible College, Ankeny Iowa) and when the counsellor that talked and prayed with us that night was from OBBI, where to go to Bible College was pretty well decided in our minds. In the spring of 1956 our family moved to the North Government Housing Projects of Omaha. Again with the faithful support of brother Glen, moving all of our condensed worldly goods in a 6 X 8 foot about a 5 foot high rack, 1948 or 49 Chevy pick up to Omaha. What a change from living on a farm setting all his, thus far life, and Waneta living on an edge of town (Population about 2,000) to the middle of Omaha, Nebraska.

On a little humorous side note, Glen had brought Dean's mother out to Omaha to visit and while driving somewhere with Dickie (Richard) about 7 or 8 years old along, was having a difficult time making the decision when to pull out in traffic, Dickie advised, “Uncle Glen, in Omaha you just have to give it the gas and get out and go”. The advice evidently was a result of observing dad in traffic, and perhaps even his mother, at that time in her life. Dean attended Bible College taking 12 -13 hrs. of course time and worked a full 40 hr. week job. If thing would have proceeded as humanly planned, a four year BA degree (for a Bible degree it was labeled as an AB degree), could be completed in 5 years. But our timing is not always God's timing, as Linda and Carol came down with hepatitis in the fall of 1958 and Dean joined them in October and was not able to complete the fall semester. He ended up in the hospital for 2 and a half months, returning to his job at Omaha Volkswagen in April of 1959.

Thus, Dean graduated with the 4 yr. course in the spring of 1962 but decided to take some post graduate courses in 62/63. Waneta also took quite a few courses as a part time/ special student. Before taking the job at Omaha Volkswagen, he had worked at Omaha Vickers Hydraulic factory. The Vickers plant had a temporary layoff ,during which Dean worked for Osmanson and Nilius, a construction company of which Lee Osmanson and Chuck Nilius were owners and were also graduates of OBBC. Another worthy note is that while Dean was in the hospital, Waneta had all the responsibilities of the family, home and spiritual guidance of the family. We lived in the northeast part of Omaha and we attended Temple Baptist Church in the western part (at that time), probably about eight miles of solid city Omaha driving. Waneta visited me daily, sometimes with children waiting in the door way (I was in isolation so they couldn't come clear in the room) or someone caring for them. She also never missed a Sunday a.m., p.m. or midweek service with all 4 children. We matured, grew and learned much in those six years that we lived in Omaha. e children had experiences that we would label good and bad, but God tells us that, “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28). Our family all recognizes that God is good and has a purpose for the things that happen in our lives and we are thankful and praise God that our children did not become bitter but bettered by the experiences that came to us. It makes it much easier and joyful to serve Him when children are supportive. During our last years in Omaha we added another Button to our collection and Douglas was born.

Dean had filled pulpits around Iowa and Nebraska, but quite often at Pocahontas Regular Baptist Church, which was a mission church that had been planted in 1959. He was called and accepted the pastorate there as a tent making (in my case a mechanic and later factory worker) pastor. So the Button Family moved to Pocahontas, Iowa in September of 1963, and the Lord launched them into a full time ministry as well as full time secular job of Implement set up, delivery, and implement/tractor/auto repair with Anderson Equipment, an Allis Chalmers dealership in Pocahontas, Iowa for 2 years. I started working a 60 hour week, raising a family and pastoring the rest of the time (actually a 24/7 job). After the first year I was able to cut out Saturdays. I then took a job working at a hydraulic factory that was out in the country about 1 ½ miles from “Poky” (as almost everyone dubbed Pocahontas). That job only required 40 hours of my time (usually) and they were agreeable to let me off for church-related ministries. I did forget to mention that it was a night shift job.

Dean had been working a full time job while attending Bible College and a full time job while pastoring and his schedule began to catch up with him, not to mention that there were now 4 teenagers in the family to responsibly help Waneta to nurture. After 4 years of ministry in Poky (the church was supporting the family with a parsonage and $200.00 a month, the Buttons were paying for utilities and car expenses). With the thought (which was erroneous) that a couple or retired couple without children could better, without so much time consumed in secular work, better reach the community a comment about that thinking will be made later, but with much prayer and some of the family having put down some deep roots in the community, but the difficult decision was made to resign. In the fall of 1967 the Button collection made another move, to Ankeny.

(This was a wonderful account and tribute of over 76 years together, written by Dean and Waneta. The remaining story was finished by Dean’s children using Dean’s notes):

For several years needing to recover from his years of working multiple jobs, Dean was employed solely by Cars, Inc. in downtown Des Moines and later moved to Gary Lilly Volkswagen in West Des Moines. During this time, he was already being prepared for the Lord moving him and Waneta, Dan and Doug into the home missions ministry with Hiawatha Baptist Missions, later to become Continental Baptist Missions. We eventually received a 45-year certificate and then later our 50-year award certificate with CBM. What a privilege and blessing it is to serve the Lord with CBM in the church planting ministry.

In the spring of 1973, we moved backed to Poky for another ten years as pastor of Pocahontas Regular Baptist Church. In 1982, Dean switched roles and became a church builder using his skills in electrical, plumbing and HVAC to help construct churches in fifteen plus locations throughout the United States. After he officially retired in 2004 at the age of 76, Dean continued to be active, helping build various churches and filling pulpits. He never retired from a life of spreading God’s word and glorifying his Lord.

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