TOLEDO- Edwin David Draisey, 76, of Toledo passed away on Sunday, March 6, 2011, at the Iowa Veteran's Home in Marshalltown. A Memorial Funeral Liturgy will be held Friday, March 11, 2011 at 11:00AM at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Tama with Deacon Joe Behounek as celebrant. Memorial Visitation will be held Friday, March 11, 2011 from 10-11 AM at St. Patrick Catholic Church. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo.
Edwin was born January 3, 1935, in Bridgewater, South Dakota, the son of William Edward and Bertha Irene (Emerson) Draisey.
He graduated from Perry High School (IA) in 1953. Edwin served his country in the U.S. Air Force from 1953-1957. He served in Germany for three years with the 6912th Radio Squadron Mobile.
On June 15, 1957, he was united in marriage to Christine Brown at Westminster Cathedral in London, England. Edwin had resided in the Tama-Toledo community since 1960. Ed worked as a carpenter for Springer Lumber Co., and eventually becoming manager of ES (Amwood) Homes. From 1980 until he retired in 1996, he was a Vice-President and loan officer at Tama State Bank, as well as being an active real estate agent in the Tama-Toledo community. He was a member of St. Patrick Catholic Church in Tama and the American Legion. He was always a very social person who enjoyed meeting people. Ed was quite involved in community affairs. In his earlier years, he was a Little League coach, a volunteer fireman for the Toledo Fire Department, and was a member of the Knights of Columbus. Over the years, he served on various boards including the Tama Library, Tama-Toledo Lion's Club, and the Tama-Toledo Swimming Pool. He was a life-long Hawkeye fan and supporter of the Tama County I-Club.
Ed enjoyed working with his hands and staying busy. He was the building project manager for the genealogical addition to the Tama County Museum, helped to restore the King Tower cabin and worked on numerous other carpentry projects. Ed was also the co-chair for the Lincoln Highway Festival for a number of years. His dedication to his community earned him the distinction of being named "Tama Citizen of the Year" in 1996.
Ed was an avid outdoorsman who relished fishing and turkey hunting with his sons. He thoroughly enjoyed family gatherings of all kinds, but especially loved spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren whom he dearly loved to tease. He will be remembered as a loving, kind and generous man with a great sense of humor. As one grandson told his cousins, "Ask Grandpa. He's easy".
Preceding him in death were his parents; a brother and sister-in-law, James "Dick" and Janet Draisey.
Survivors include his wife, Christine of Toledo; his children, Teresa (Tom) Appelgate of West Palm Beach, FL, Stephen (Kathy) Draisey of Raytown, MO, David (Rhonda) Draisey of Toledo; Geoffrey (Kristen) Draisey of Mantorville, MN; his AFS "daughter", Dr. Maria Gonzalez of Santiago, Chile and her daughters, Florencia and Valentina Castro; thirteen grandchildren, Whitney and Lauren Appelgate, Drew, Stephany, Jacob and Tony Draisey, Kelsey ( special friend, Nick) and Samantha Draisey, Ryan (Margo) Leafstedt, Katie Leafstedt, Brandon (Tiara) Draisey, Jerrod Draisey (special friend, Marcy) and Courtney (Adam) Martin; ten great-grandchildren; his siblings, Donna (Ralph) Emmerson of Waukee, Bonnie Parker of Franklin, TN, Jerry Draisey of Corpus Christi, TX, Bill (Maxine) Draisey of Carroll; and a brother-in-law, Tony Brown of Spain.
The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the Alzheimer's Association.