Donald Stamper

Donald Stamper, 92, of Mount Ayr died Thursday, July 6, 2017, at Clearview Home in Mount Ayr.

Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 13, at Armstrong Funeral Home, 205 W. Monroe St., in Mount Ayr with burial in Bethel Cemetery in Diagonal. Open visitation will be from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, with family present from 6 to 8 p.m. at the funeral home. Memorials are to HCI Care Services and United Methodist Church, both in Mount Ayr. Online condolences may be left at www.armstrongfh.com.

Donald Gene Stamper, son of Grant A. and Mildred (Keller) Stamper, was born Dec. 30, 1924, on a farm southwest of Diagonal. When he was 10 months old, the family moved to Creston where his dad took employment with the railroad. When the Great Depression hit seven years later, the family moved back to Ringgold County. Don attended several country schools including Bliss, Harmony and Bethel. The family eventually moved to the town of Diagonal and he graduated from Diagonal High School in 1942. Right after graduation, Don went to work at the bomber plane plant in Omaha, Nebraska. Returning to Ringgold County, Don began working for Rural Electric Company, running some of the first electric wires in southern Iowa.

On May 20, 1956, Don married Gloria Black in Osceola. Don would eventually go to work with C.B. & Q. Railroad doing bridge construction, later working 11 years as a telephone lineman for Contel. In his retirement, Don worked for Snowdens, Clarke County School and Clarke County Hospital. Gloria died in 1996 and Don moved from Osceola to Mount Ayr. His health began to fail in 2015 and he became a resident of Clearview Home.

Don is survived by his sister Guelda Barker of Mount Ayr; brother Phillip (Mary) Stamper of Colorado Springs, Colorado; sister-in-law Louise Stamper of Mount Ayr; 15 nephews and nieces; other relatives and friends.

Don was preceded in death by his parents; wife Gloria; brother Doyle Stamper; brother-in-law Marshall Barker and parents-in-law, Orville and Ada Black.