Delbert Joseph Heisterkamp

Delbert Joseph Heisterkamp, 90, of Onawa, Iowa, passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 27, 2018, at Burgess Health Center in Onawa. Visitation will be 5:00 – 8:00 P.M. Thursday, May 31, 2018, with a scriptural wake service at 7:00 P.M. followed by the rosary, at St. John's Catholic Church in Onawa. A meal will be served at 12:00 P.M. Friday, June 1, 2018, at St. John's Catholic Church, which everyone is welcome to attend. Visitation will resume from 1:00 – 2:00 P.M. A funeral mass will be 2:00 P.M. Friday, June 1, 2018, at the church, with Father Michael Erpelding, celebrant. Burial will follow in the Onawa Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Rush Family Care Service in Onawa. He was born on October 31, 1927, in rural Little Sioux, Iowa, the third child of ten from Frank and Martha (Detterman-Schulte) Heisterkamp. He attended Blencoe Schools and began farming as a young boy, and by 14 was entrusted to run the family farm while his father was working on the Kansas Hay Harvest. He graduated from Blencoe High School in 1945, and has remained best friends with his classmates. He completed farming courses at Iowa State University for two years after. On September 19, 1950, he married (Ellen) Yvonne Ryan in Onawa. To this union, six children were born and raised. They farmed for four years at Little Sioux and another four years at Ute. They moved to Onawa in 1957, and he went to work for his in-laws, Leonard and Gladys, at Ryan Implement (John Deere) in Onawa. In 1967, he purchased the dealership and changed the name to Heisterkamp Equipment (later Heisterkamp, Ltd.) and served as President and Chairman of the Board for thirty-five years. All of his sons joined in working at the dealerships. Over this time, he expanded and operated Heisterkamp Equipment in Sloan, Heisterkamp Implement in Sioux City, Outdoor Power Equipment of Onawa, The Equipment Barn in Onawa, and Mapleton Implement in Mapleton. He also operated a grain and livestock farm operation in Blencoe, a DX filling station, True Value Hardware, and the Heisterkamp Farm Store. Most all of these were operated simultaneously. Delbert was very active in his community, and served or was heavily involved with the following organizations: founding member and Grand Knight of the Onawa-Blencoe Knights of Columbus, member of St. Bernard's Catholic Church of Blencoe and St. John's Catholic Church of Onawa, member and donor of 4-H, Assistant Chief of the Onawa Fire Department, committee chair of the Onawa Kiwanis Club, president of the Iowa – Nebraska Farm Equipment Dealers Association, director of the Onawa Chamber of Commerce, director of the Onawa Economic Development Corporation, scoutmaster of the Boy Scouts Troop 332 of Onawa, a founding volunteer of Onabike, a volunteer at the Monona County Museum Complex, a donor of the Monona County Fair, a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, and founder of the Onawa Food Pantry gardener's club. He attempted a run for the Iowa House of Representatives (Dem) in 1994. He happily sold his property to the city for their central offices in Onawa. He truly enjoyed the business community, and used his infectious laugh and good-natured happiness for their approval. Over the years, he employed hundreds of wonderful people in many local Iowa communities. Families had multiple generations working at the company, and he considered them family as well. Several had worked for his organization for up to four decades. He never hesistated to contribute to make this community a better place to live in by volunteering his services or resources for the school, hospital, city, or county. He was a promoter and believed in the success of the Onawa Community. He enjoyed meeting young farmers and did all that he could to help them get started in farming with the proper equipment, technology, education, or financing. His biggest contribution was letting his subordinates run with their ideas. Over the years, many of his company's ideas or programs were adapted nationally by John Deere. He always encouraged ideas and growth from others, and he never believed in micro-managing others. He would recruit leaders in the community as well. Many have stayed with those organizations long past his involvement. His success was largely attributed to the help of his wife of over sixty years. Delbert is survived by his children, Greg (Jane) Heisterkamp of Sloan, IA, David Heisterkamp of Omaha, NE, Debra (Kevin) Smith of Sioux City, IA, Kevin (Doreen) Heisterkamp of Early, IA, Keith Heisterkamp of Onawa, IA, and Mark Heisterkamp of Omaha, NE; siblings, Yvonne Hanneman of Council Bluffs, IA, Verla Benjamin of Whiting, IA, Ardith Olson of Onawa, IA, Mavis Ryan of Blencoe, IA, Franklin (Wanda) Heisterkamp of Blencoe, IA, Gayle Keele of Scottsdale, AZ, and Ron (Geraldine) Heisterkamp of Mondamin, IA; sisters-in-law, Patricia Heisterkamp of Onawa, IA and Joanne Heisterkamp of Blencoe, IA, 49 nieces and nephews; his 18 grandchildren, Trisha (Spencer) Yockey, Mary (Pete) McCarthy, Alex (Jennifer) Smith, Eric (Amber) Smith, Tom (Jackie) Smith, Jacob (Ashli Olson) Smith, Jennifer (Dennis) Boysen, Emily Heisterkamp, Max (Ashley) Heisterkamp, Brian (Mandi) Heisterkamp, Chris (Molly) Heisterkamp, Jason (Jennifer) Heisterkamp, Bradley (Lindsey) Heisterkamp, Patrick (Marysa) Heisterkamp, Lauren Heisterkamp, Landon Heisterkamp, Gwyneth Heisterkamp, and Cori Heisterkamp; and 28 great-grandchildren. He thoroughly enjoyed helping his family in any way, and appreciated their love and support for him. He was preceded in death by his parents, Frank and Martha Heisterkamp; in-laws, Leonard and Gladys Ryan; loving wife of over 60 years, Yvonne Heisterkamp; brothers, Glenn and Roger Heisterkamp; brothers-in-law, Quentin Hanneman, Maurice Benjamin, James Olson, L. Dwayne Ryan, and Dennis Keele; nephews, Thomas Heisterkamp, Matthew Benjamin, and Louis Benjamin; great-niece, Elizabeth Ryan; and infant great-grandson, Alan Smith. His family suggests a donation in Delbert's memory to any Onawa organization. His family would like to acknowledge the hard-working employees at Premier Estates, Elmwood Care Centre, Family Medicine Clinic, Stangel Pharmacy, and Burgess Health Center of Onawa for their loving care in his last years. Condolences may be left online for the family at www.rushfamilycareservice.com