Wilbur Allen "Will" Eyestone

Wilbur Allen (Will) Eyestone of Des Moines passed peacefully at the VA Medical Center on Sunday, July 20, 2025. He had been a patient there since July 3 due to declining health. Will had fallen and broken a hip on March 15 and subsequently had a full hip replacement. He had been an avid mall walker prior to falling. He was never able to return to that.

Will's birthday easily qualified him as elderly. He would want to use this platform to warn all those "elderly" persons to take care of your balance and watch your step as statistically, if you break a hip in a fall, you have a fifty-fifty chance of dying in the next six months, despite your current physical condition.

Will was born on May 21, 1938, in Grinnell, Iowa to Wilbur G. and Ruby Ada (Allen) Eyestone. A brother followed about two years later, completing the family. Will was educated in Grinnell schools and was an active member of the Boy Scouts, eventually becoming a Senior Scout, which included helping with the younger boys. In 1953 he and his brother were able to attend the National Jamboree in Irvine, California.

Will enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17. His basic training was in Great Lakes, Illinois and then on to San Diego and later Bremerton, Washington. He was released from service on his 21st birthday. He went back to Iowa briefly, then returned to California to seek employment. His work while in California was mainly in banking and credit. He married and started a family. But the marriage didn't last, and he again returned to Iowa.

In Des Moines he worked as a bill collector and later credit manager for Woolco Department Stores, and later as a collector for State Employees Credit Union (Now Community Choice Credit Union). He remarried and eventually adopted his two step-children. At the end of his working career, he was a stay at home dad and husband.

He is survived by his wife, Deb and their children, Dawn Eyestone, and Shawn (wife Mari) Eyestone and their two sons, Ryne and Dylan. Will is also survived by a daughter Carrie (and family) and Son John (wife Tammy) and their children: Casie (husband Aaron) their daughter Abbie (husband Carson),and Son Konner; John (wife Anne) and children JP, Chloe, and Laia; Annalisa and daughters Emma and Phoebe; and Sarah and daughter Izzy. He was predeceased by his parents, brother and infant twin granddaughters.

There will be a visitation on Tuesday July 29 from 5:00 until 8:00 p.m.at Iles Westover Chapel, 6337 Hickman Rd, Des Moines.

Celebration of life service will be at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday July 30 at Grace United Methodist Church, 3700 Cottage Grove, Des Moines. Livestreaming can be viewed on the church website. A light luncheon will follow. Burial of the cremains will be in Grinnell at a later date. Memorials may be directed to Grace church. Online condolences may be expressed at www.ilesfuneralhomes.com