The Life of STANLEY JOHN WESTROM
Stanley John Westrom passed away at Mercy Medical Center on Saturday, December 20, 2003 from complications of Parkinson''s Disease. He was born to Stanley Everett Westrom and Theresa Marie (Jacobson) Westrom on January 18, 1928 in Lake View, IA. Services will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, December 23 at Hamilton''s Near Highland Memory Gardens Funeral Home.
He was the eldest of three children and graduated from Lake View High School. He joined the army in 1945 and took an early discharge to take over the family farm for his ailing father. His first marriage resulted in five lovely children. He spent a number of years farming and then became a policeman, eventually becoming Chief of Police in Sac City, IA.
He came to Des Moines to work as a machinist and went on to work at John Deere Co. in Ankeny where he retired after 29 years. He ran his own company and machine shop doing specialized gun work under Precise Firearms Finishing. He was a proud member of the NRA and was made an honorary member of the American Custom Gunmakers Guild in May, 2003.
John is survived by his wife, JoAnne and seven children, Mark (Judy) of Davenport, IA; Mary Ellen (Dan) Oberender of Dallas Center, IA; John Randall of Kirksville, MO; Susan Westrom of Lexington, KY; Christopher (Diana) of Des Moines, IA; Thomas (Ginger) of Sparta, WI; and Williams (Marlana) of Adel, IA; his brother, Kenneth (Dean) of Denison, IA; eleven grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Margaret.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Parkinson''s Foundation or to the National Rifle Association.