John Andersen

John L. Andersen, 81, of Atlantic, Iowa, passed away Wednesday, February 19, 2020, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, NE.

John was born June 30, 1938, to Alvin and Mildred (Weston) Andersen in Burlington, Wisconsin. In 1943, the family moved to Iowa. In 1948 his parents divorced. He then moved to the country where he lived with Warren and Lorraine Snyder and worked his way through school. He graduated from Audubon High School in 1956.

In 1959 he married Jeanene Andersen. To this union four children were born, Dean, Jani, Michael and Patrick.

After high school, he worked at the Audubon Creamery, was a truck driver, worked in a filling station and was a farm hand.
In 1961, he and Jeanene moved to Kimballton where he farmed and did day work for a year. In 1962, John and Paul Christensen bought and operated First Line Auto Service in Kimballton. In 1963, he bought a cream and egg route. When milk took over, he sold the cream route and worked for Walnut Grove for six years. In 1971, he left the fertilizer business and started a paint business which he operated for 14 years. In 1978, he bought a wholesale and retail milk route for Wells Blue Bunny. When their second child started college, two businesses were more than they could handle, and he sold the milk route. In the off season, he would work at Jacob Tool and Western Iowa Pork.

If you knew John, there a good chance that at some point in time he may have painted your house or barn, sold you fertilizer, delivered your produce, helped you put in your crops, or helped you harvest them, worked on your car, sold you insurance, roasted a hog for you, or mostly likely told you one of his many stories.

In 1985, he started selling insurance for Bankers Life and Casualty. He continued in the insurance business until 2012. After a year layoff, he went to work for Sioux City Nite Patrol.

Jeanene died in 1988.

John married Sue Boseck in 1989. In 2016, they sold their house and moved to Atlantic.

John was a member of the Kimballton Fire Department for over 40 years. He had served with the National Guard for eight years. He served on the Kimballton school board for one term, the Elk Horn/Kimballton school board for one term, the Elk Horn Lutheran Church board for one term, the president of the Kimballton Commercial Club before it was the Progressive Danes, and he was a member of the Amvets Post #51 since 1961.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his mother and father-in-law; his first wife, Jeanene; an infant son, Patrick; sister-in-law, Jerolyn Kite; nephew, Bryan Kite; and a stepsister, Becky Delaney.

John is survived by his second wife, Sue Andersen; his children, Dean Andersen, Jani (Chris) Harrington, Michael (Sarah) Andersen; brothers, Lee (Daisy) Andersen and Roy (Lovie) Andersen; sister, Patricia Andersen; step-daughters, Julie (David) Miller and Brooke (Brett) Krahn, April (Jim) Forsythe, CA; half-brothers, David (Sharon) Andersen, Ronald (Mary) Andersen; half-sister, Debra Andersen; step-sister, Shelia Shutt; aunt, Frances Cortner; brother-in-law, Scott (Bonnie) Morton; sister-in-law, Liz (Jerry) Renolds; and grandchildren, Holly and Brian Ingram, Cody Snyder (Alex Nelson), Ashley and Jared Hull, Alexander Forsythe, Curtis Inman (Kristina Riemer), Nikki York (Chris), Andrea Weston, Tonya Ahern (Patrick), Nicholas Andersen (Lizzy), Laura Kilpatrick (Scotty), Reece Andersen, Ellowyn Graznik; Great-Grandchildren, Noah, Haley and Zaden York, RaeLynn and Adi Ahern and Finnegan Kilpatrick; Dominc, Franky, and William Snyder, Mackenzy and Lucus Inman-Riemer; and by many nieces, nephews and friends.

Please make donations to the family. They in turn will donate to the Atlantic Food Pantry and the Animal Shelter in John's name.

Visitation with family will be from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., Saturday, February 22, 2020, at Hockenberry Family Care in Atlantic, Iowa.

A memorial service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Sunday, February 23, 2020, at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church in Elk Horn, Iowa.

Burial will be at Elk Horn Lutheran Cemetery in Elk Horn, Iowa, at a later date.

Hockenberry Family Care Funeral Home in Atlantic, Iowa, is in charge of arrangements.