Gerald E. Faber

Gerald E. (Jerry) Faber

Des Moines

Gerald Enoch Faber, 93, of Des Moines died Tuesday October 15, 2013 at the Luther Park Trinity Center. The memorial service will be at Windsor Heights Lutheran Church at 11 a.m. Saturday, October 26, 2013. The family will be available for visitation one hour prior to the service. A private interment service will be held at the Iowa Veteran's Memorial Cemetery.

Jerry was born on October 11, 1920 in Ackley, Iowa to Florence (Baughman) and Enoch Faber. On November 27, 1947 he married Miriam E. Kappelman, the love of his life. They had 3 children, Michael, Mary and Carol.

Jerry grew up in Ackley and Cedar Rapids and graduated from McKinley High School in Cedar Rapids in January 1939. After high school, he enlisted in the navy where he served aboard ships in the South Pacific. On December 7, 1941 he was serving aboard the USS Solace at Pearl Harbor. He was one of the last of the Pearl Harbor survivors in Iowa. He also served aboard the USS Vincennes, USS Rigel and USS ABSD-3. He was honorably discharged in October, 1945.

Following the war he married Miriam and began a family in Des Moines. He was employed at Wright Tree service and then became a mail carrier with the US Postal Service. He retired from the Postal Service in 1979. He and Miriam were members of Windsor Heights Lutheran Church. He was a loving and dedicated husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.

He is survived by his wife, Miriam and their children: Michael (Linda) Faber of Windsor Heights, Mary (Randy) Rose of Colorado Springs, CO, and Carol (Brian) Carder of Holland, MI. Also surviving are grandchildren: Josh (Jen) Faber of Urbandale and Sara (Jeremy) Fitzpatrick of Des Moines, Melissa (Justin) Dixon and Chris Rose of Colorado Springs, and Dmitri and Cecily Carder of Holland, as well as great-grandchildren Dalton, Ben, Nathan, Trevor, Kathryn, Connor, Mackenzie, Morgan and Jordan.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sisters Marjorie Petersen and Carol Klockentager and brothers-in-law Lorenz Petersen and John Klockentager.

For many years, Jerry dedicated himself to caring for Miriam who suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Donations in memory of Jerry may be made to Cure Alzheimer's Fund, 34 Washington St. Suite 200, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481 or online at curealz.org.