Joseph S. Iwan

Joseph S. Iwan of King City, CA, passed away on March 29th, 2025. Born in 1949 in Gary, Indiana, Joe was 75 years of age.
Joe was born on July 25th, 1949 and raised in Gary, Indiana, where he fondly remembered his high school years at Andrean High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada, followed master's degree in Business from the University of Toronto. Joe met his wife Karen in Canada, and would have stayed there if not for the difficulty of finding work. Summers were spent working at the steel mills in Gary to earn college money.
In 1978, Joe joined the Peace Corps, serving as a business volunteer for two years at a bank in Pereira, Columbia. He proudly wore his University of Toronto sweatshirt whenever he was not at work. Joe made many long-time friends through this service and learned to speak Spanish, a skill that served him well in his teaching career. After the Peace Corps, he lived for a while in Roseville, California. Joe and Karen moved to King City in the 1990s, where Joe taught Spanish at King City High School and Karen taught English as a second language in Adult Education.
Joe was well-known for his sense of humor and his love of the Chicago Cubs. In 2002, he bought the car of his dreams, a yellow Mazda Miata which he referred to as "The Banana." Joe was often seen driving the car into town with the convertible top down, alternately wearing his Cubs hat or a whirling propeller beanie. When he had his 1959 Schwinn bicycle restored to better-than-new condition, Joe commented "My parents bought me this expensive bike on the condition that I took good care of it. I always keep my promises!" When Joe retired in 2011, he kept the retirement a secret so that he could make a weekday trip to Scotts Valley, to deposit a joke gift ("The Mug") on the hood of a friend's car.
Joe fought cancer off and on for more than 30 years. The disease had returned aggressively prior to his passing, but as was typical for Joe, he downplayed it to the point that few of his friends knew that he was about to start a last-hope round of chemotherapy.
When Karen passed away in 2017, Joe was asked if he would do as many other retired teachers and leave King City. His answer was "Why would I do that? All of my friends are here." In 2019, Joe embarked on building the home of his dreams amongst the oaks of Pine Canyon. After many delays, he was finally able to move into his new home in time to enjoy seeing wildlife from every window.
Joe leaves behind his brother Gene, many nieces and nephews, as well as great-nieces and great-nephews.
Joe was a devout Catholic, and would have been proud to know that the first American Pope, Leo, was from Chicago.
FUNERAL SERVICES:
His funeral service will be held at St. John Catholic Church at 11 AM on Monday, July 14th. A reception will be held after the service at 52870 Pine Canyon Road, and interment will happen on July 15th at San Carlos Cemetery in Monterey.
For more information, please contact Eddington Funeral Services, King City, (831) 385-5400, www.EFS-Cares.com
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