Howard Messerer

Howard Messerer, age 86, of Marshalltown, Iowa, entered into the gates of Heaven on Monday, July 6, 2026 at Bickford Cottage of Marshalltown.

Memorial services for Howard will be held on Monday, July 13, 2026 beginning at 10:30 A.M. at Elim Lutheran Church in Marshalltown. Memorials in Howard’s name may be directed to Elim Lutheran Church, Grimes Farm or the Emergency Food Box. For additional information or to send a condolence to the family, please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call 641-844-1234.

Howard George Messerer was born December 15, 1939 in Waterloo, Iowa. He was the oldest of two sons born to Ralph and Myrtle (Deeds) Messerer. He grew up in Waterloo and attended school at Waterloo East. Howard graduated with the Class of 1958 and immediately following, attended Gates Business School graduating in the spring of 1960 with his Associates of Arts Degree.

In 1963, Howard was drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War. He was trained at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri where he impressed all of the instructors he worked alongside. Following his basic training, he was transferred to be stationed in Paris, France where he was assigned to intelligence working with the United States Air Force. In 1965, he was honorably discharged from service.

On November 30, 1968, Howard went on a blind date with Carolyn Johnson. It was love at first sight for the both of them and a few months later, on June 21, 1969, they were united in marriage at the St. Johns Lutheran Church in Madrid, Iowa. They began married life in Des Moines, Iowa where Howard was working at Dental EZ. They relocated to Marshalltown in 1973 where he began working with the Marshalltown City Clerk office in 1973 and worked alongside Bill Miner until 1979. Additionally in 1979, they welcomed their only daughter Katherine. Howard began work for Fisher Controls as a computer programmer and at the time of his retirement in 2004, a business analyst.

Over the years, Howard was involved with many various organizations. He took the greatest pride on serving with the Marshall County Board of Conservation where he oversaw the development of what is now the Grimes Farm Conservation Center and the Sand Lake projects. He was a longtime member of Elim Lutheran Church in Marshalltown and of Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever. Howard was an outdoorsman through and through and spent many years hunting all seasons alongside his three labs: Candy, Sally and Molly. Additionally, he enjoyed fishing, taking his boat out to Big Creek and Lake Red Rock. In later years, he spent time with Carolyn gardening, participating in various bowling leagues, slow pitch softball leagues, golfing and attending his 5 A.M. coffee group at Burger King. His conservation efforts never dwindled, he spent many years doing capture/release of monarch butterflies to track and study their migration patterns often reaching 500 butterflies in one year.

Those left to remember and cherish his memory are his wife of 57 years, Carolyn of Marshalltown; his daughter, Katherine (Donald) Yohn of Altoona; two grandchildren, Addie and Carson Yohn; brother, Robert (Sandy) Messerer; nieces and nephews, Mike Messerer, John Marlovits, Shelly Surovy and Tammie Metlin; and sister and brother-in-law Audrey and Edward Marlovits.

In Eternal Life, Howard is rejoined with his parents, Ralph and Myrtle Messerer; nephew, Eric Marlovits; father and mother-in-law, Alden and Mae Johnson; and brother-in-law, Fred Johnson.

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