Robert "Bob" Neal Ver Heul

ROBERT “BOB” NEAL VER HEUL

Robert “Bob” Neal Ver Heul, age 90 of Cherokee, IA, passed away Friday, November 22, 2024, at St. Luke Lutheran Home in Spencer, IA A memorial gathering celebrating Bob’s life will be held 2:00-4:00 p.m. Sunday, December 8, 2024, at the Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee, IA. Burial will take place at a later date. The Greenwood-Schubert Funeral Home in Cherokee, IA is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.greenwoodfuneral.com.

Robert Neal Ver Heul (Bob) was born on June 13, 1934, in Des Moines, IA. He was the only child of Martha (Hetherington) and Neal Bauer Ver Heul.

Bob attended elementary school and graduated from Newkirk Consolidated School in 1952 then attended Northwestern Jr. College in Orange City, IA. until 1954.

In 1954-1956 he was employed by Crawford Electric of Nebraska. His job was to install power lines. He was drafted into the United States Army and was stationed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia where he attended a school for engineering. After two years in the Army, he attended Buena Vista College and graduated in 1960 with a major in business.

On June 25, 1960, he and Molly Mulder of Alton were married in the Presbyterian Church in Alton. He then started his career with Goodyear in Lincoln, NE. Less than a year later, he was transferred to Sioux City where he drove a tire route for Goodyear. In 1963, they moved to Cherokee, IA to pursue an opportunity to buy Love Tire Shop which was owned by Ivan Love. A friend from college, Merle (Jerry) Van Patten and Bob worked one year for Ivan and then, as co-partners in 1964, bought Love Tire shop. He later started a snowmobile and motorcycle shop called “Bob’s Suzuki.” Bob’s later years were spent working at Holzhauer’s and Letsche’s Radio Shack.

As a young adult living in Cherokee, he gave back to his community by serving as the president of the Cherokee Country Club where golf was a frequent hobby he enjoyed with his friends. He also served on the Sioux Valley Hospital Board.

Bob was the kind of man whose love for family was only occasionally rivaled by his devotion to the Iowa Hawkeyes football, basketball, and anything he needed a helmet for. He loved to ride all things with wheels or sleds (as long as it went fast) were his passions—-though a boat could suffice too.

Bob was preceded in death by his parents and a stepfather, Bill Van Rooyen. He is survived by his wife, Molly, daughter Carol and her husband John Lewallen, grandchildren Neil, Christian, Lucas, Emily and Mathias, and two great-granddaughters Ivory and Isla, sister-in-law Carol Finn, step-sister and brother-in-law Lynn (Larry) Zwagerman, and step-brother and sister-in-law Bill (Pam) Van Rooyen.

The family requests that memorials be made to Spencer Regional Healthcare Foundation and /or Abben Cancer Center. Online donations can be made at www.spencerhospital.org/about-us/donate/donate-online/