John M. Rops

MASON CITY - John M. Rops, 77, of 3220 S. Birch Drive in Mason City, died Monday morning (Aug. 27, 2007) at the Muse-Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today, Aug. 30, at St. James Lutheran Church, 1148 Fourth St. S.E. in Mason City, with the Rev. Paul C. Nelson officiating. Following John's service at the church, military respects will be conducted by the Mason City Memorial Association and the Allison Amvets.

Cremation will take place in the care of Fullerton Funeral Home with the inurnment in the Allison Cemetery, at a later date.

Visitation was held from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, at the Fullerton Funeral Home, 123 Second St. S.E. in Mason City, and will continue on Thursday morning at the church, one hour prior to the service.

Those wishing to offer a memorial or expression of sympathy may wish to direct them to the John M. Rops Memorial Fund.

Thoughts, condolences and stories may be e-mailed to the family on the www.fullertonfh.com Web site.

John Menno Rops, the only child of Harm and Margaret (Harken) Rops, was born on March 14, 1930, at home in Clarksville. He attended school and graduated from Allison Community High School in 1948.

On Jan. 7, 1952, John was inducted into the U.S. Army and served his country during the Korean War. On Sept. 26, 1953, John was formally and honorably discharged of his military duties from Camp Carson, Colo.

Following his discharge from the Army, John began farming east of Allison. He was united in marriage to Marlys Fay Kalkwarf on March 10, 1954, at the Christian Reform Church in Parkersburg. The couple became the busy parents of six children and continued their farming operation for the next 30 years.

In his earlier years, John enjoyed playing softball on a men's fast pitch league, tending to his farm, livestock and pet dogs, building model airplanes and custom farming for area farmers. He attained his pilot's license and co-owned an airplane, which he took great pleasure in flying and took the opportunity to go fishing, every now and then.

While still farming, John accepted a position as a bus driver and mechanic for the Allison-Bristow School District. In 1990, John and Marlys relocated to Mason City and became the owners of Lee's Lanes, where he enjoyed bowling on several leagues and became a member of the Men's Bowling Association. He retired in 2003.

John was a member of St. James Lutheran Church and a life member of the VFW in Mason City, a former member of Trinity Reformed Church in Allison and a member of the Amvets in Allison.

Some of John's favorite leisure activities included watching any event that this children and grandchildren were involved in, bird watching, rock collecting, creating jewelry pieces, family gatherings and watching baseball and football, especially if the Twins, Yankees or the Vikings were playing!

John's family recall that one of his most favorite sayings was, "Everything has a use," thus, he found it difficult to dispose of most anything!

Those left to cherish John's memory is his wife, Marlys, of Mason City; his children, Margaret "Maggie" (Ken) Schmitz of Cedar Falls, LeRoy (Carla) Rops of Shell Rock, Mary Pratt of Tripoli, Rudy Rops of Des Moines and Julie (Maurice) Mentens of Encino, Calif. He will also be dearly missed by his grandchildren, Ryan and Matt Schmitz, Sara and Tyler Rops, Gina and Shelly Pratt and Christopher Oliphant and numerous other relatives and friends.

Preceding John in death is his daughter, Kathleen Rops in 1965; and his parents, Harm and Margaret Rops.

Fullerton Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 641-423-8676. www.fullertonfh.com