Dr. John Francis McAreavy

1927 - 2018

Dr. John Francis McAreavy

Muscatine - John Francis McAreavy, 91, of Muscatine, passed away on Friday, November 23, 2018, at Windmill Manor, Coralville.

Funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, November 29, 2018 at St. Mathias Church. The Reverend Troy Richmond will officiate. Private burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Ss. Mary and Mathias Parish. Arrangements are being made by Ralph J. Wittich-Riley-Freers Funeral Home. Online Condolences: www.wittichfuneralhome.com

John Francis McAreavy was born to John Bernard and Kathryn McAreavy in Coggan, Iowa, on September 22, 1927. He attended school in Parnell, Cedar Rapids, and attended Loras College on an athletic scholarship.

John served in the U.S. Army stationed in Alaska. He was discharged as a Sargent earning the World War II Victory Medal. After service, he enrolled in the University of Iowa from which he was awarded a BA and MS in Mathematics and later a PhD in Management Science.

John was hired as a Muscatine High School mathematics instructor, yearbook advisor and basketball coach. At Muscatine Community College, he taught mathematics, coached baseball and basketball, clinching the Iowa State Junior College Basketball Championship title in 1955 and 1956.

In 1956, he accepted a position as a mathematician at the U.S. Army Management Engineering Agency at the Rock Island Arsenal. He served as director from 1980-1989. While at the Agency, he conducted the Management Development Program in Japan, Panama, Belgium, Netherlands, Turkey, Iran, France, Germany, Viet Nam and the United States. During this period, he held the post of adjunct professor at University of Iowa and St. Ambrose University.

In 1962 he was a delegate to the First Symposium on the Management of Advanced Technology at the Seattle World's Fair. He was also a delegate to the First International Computer Conference at MIT. In 1970, he delivered a paper at the International Computer Conference in Amsterdam.

Upon retirement 1989, he joined the University of Iowa Center of Computer Aided Design, College of Engineering as a consultant resulting in the establishment of the National Advanced Driving Simulator.

He was a member of St. Mathias Parish, Knights of Columbus, Elks Lodge, and American Legion.

John was preceded in death by his wife of sixty-eight years, Joan, who passed in January 2018. Papa John is survived by their twelve children, Susan (Richard) Potthoff, Kathryn (Thomas) McLaughlin, Mary (Roger) Eggenburg, Martha (Timothy) Freemole, Brian (Bonnie), John (Amy), Joseph (Gigi), Thomas (Michelle), Julie (Todd) Kisner, Amy (Timothy) Aylor, Douglas (Susan) and Molly (Bill) Schwarz, 31 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.