LeRoy H. Redfern

LeRoy H. Redfern, 87, died Monday morning, March 12, 2007, at the Western Home Communities.
He was born April 16, 1919, in Peru, Nebraska to Loren Donald and Grace Hallett Redfern. He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant sister and brother, Loren. LeRoy graduated from Peru High School in 1937 and Peru State Teachers College in 1941. He taught at the high school in Mt. Morris, Michigan, for one year before enlisting in the United States Navy in May of 1942.

LeRoy married Nancy Ellen Jones on September 11, 1942, in Peru, Nebraska.

He served as Yeoman in anti-submarine warfare for a year in North Africa. He was promoted to Lieutenant j.g. and returned to the United States for a dispersing course at the Harvard Business School. LeRoy then served as a dispersing officer on the USS Westmoreland in the Pacific until the end of the war.

Following the war, LeRoy graduated from the University of Michigan Law School (1948), where he was assistant editor of the Michigan Law Review. Nancy attended LeRoy's law school graduation ceremonies, while LeRoy took the Iowa bar exam and traveled Iowa to find the ideal community in which to practice law and raise a family. He found that community in Cedar Falls, and the family moved there within two weeks.

LeRoy was a senior partner in the law firm of Redfern, Mason, Dieter, Larsen & Moore, for more than 50 years. He served as Cedar Falls City Attorney (1951 to 1955) and also served as an Assistant Black Hawk County Attorney. LeRoy was an active member of the legal profession, serving on the Iowa Bar Association Title Standards Committee for 37 years, 22 years of which he served as Chairman. He helped establish the Title Guaranty Division Board of the Iowa Finance Authority and was on the founding board from 1985 - 1989. LeRoy was a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of the American Bar Foundation. He was a member of the American, Iowa State, and Black Hawk County Bar Associations, serving as the County Bar Association's President in 1963 to 1964. LeRoy received the highest award the Iowa State Bar Association bestows on its members, the Award of Merit, in 1979 and received the Iowa State Bar Association Community Service Award in 2001.

LeRoy served on the board of directors of a number of area financial institutions, businesses, and non-profit associations. He helped create and establish the Cedar Falls Industrial Development Association and the Cedar Falls Industrial Park. LeRoy and Nancy jointly received the Cedar Falls Representative Citizens Award in 1978.

LeRoy helped establish and was one of the original trustees when the Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) Foundation was created in 1959 and served 47 years on the Board, including over 20 years as Vice Chairman. He received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Northern Iowa in 2006.

LeRoy was a member of the First United Methodist Church where he held a number of leadership positions. He was member of the Cedar Falls Rotary Club, serving as its President in 1954-55. He was a member of Amvets Post #49 and received the 1987 Amvets State Commander's Award. He helped establish and served as the first President of the Peru State College Foundation, receiving the Distinguished Service Award from that institution in 2002.

LeRoy is survived by his loving wife, Nancy Ellen, of 64 years. He is also survived by his four children: Don Redfern (Lorelei Heisinger) of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Dick Redfern (Kathy) of St. Paul, MN, Anne Redfern of Excelsior, MN, and Dr. Sallie Redfern (Jeff Tomaszewski) of Temecula, CA; nine grandchildren: including, Bridget (Tom) Carlson, Chris (Ali) Murphy, Jeff and Luke Redfern, Jackie and Julie Tomaszewski and Benson, Harrison and Grant Redfern; two great-grandchildren, Connor Murphy and Noah Carlson; one brother, Willard Redfern (Jean) of La Mirada, CA, and many nieces and nephews.

A visitation will be held Sunday, March 18, 2007, from 2 to 5:30 p.m. at Richardson Funeral Home, 615 Main Street, Cedar Falls.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, March 19, 2007, 10:30 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church, 723 Washington Street, Cedar Falls, with luncheon to follow.

A private interment with full Amvet honors conducted by Post #49 of Cedar Falls will be held with the family on Saturday, March 17, 2007. LeRoy has donated his eyes to the Iowa Lions Eye Bank for research at the Center for Macular Degeneration at the University of Iowa.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Cedar Falls Historical Society, the First United Methodist Church of Cedar Falls and the University of Northern Iowa Foundation.

The Redfern family expresses their gratitude to the Western Home Communities and the Cedar Valley Hospice for their loving care and support.