Obituary of John O. Cornelius

John O. Cornelius, 85, of Iowa City, passed away Tuesday, January 9, 2018.

A memorial service will be held 1:30 Sunday, January 14th at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Iowa City where a time of fellowship will follow. Memorials in John’s memory may be directed to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Shriners Hospitals for Children thru the Davenport temple, or an organization of your preference.

John Oscar Cornelius was born February 6, 1932, in Little Rock, AR; son of Oscar and Blanche (Holm) Cornelius. After high school he attended the University of Minnesota before taking a job, which would become his life-long career with GMAC; John retired from there in 1992 and went onto work part time until 2006 at ACT.

John married Claudia Cook on March 9, 1957 in Minneapolis, MN. They moved to Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and then settling in Iowa City in 1964. He had been a 50+ year member of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, a 50-year Mason, a Kiwanis charter member, and member of the KAABA Shriners of Davenport. He enjoyed parading with the Iowa City Camel Wheels on the three-wheel ATVs.

John was a Christian, a family man and enjoyed traveling, especially visiting national parks with his family. He was proud to be 100% Norwegian and enjoyed serving his community thru many organizations.

His family includes his wife, Claudia; daughters, Lynda Goplerud of Waukee, Iowa and Brenda Prinzavalli (Brian) of Henderson, Nevada and grandchildren, Morgan Potzner (Travis) and Jonathan ‘Beck’ Goplerud.

John was preceded in death by his parents, and brothers, Charles and Earl Cornelius.