Obituary of Donald E. Farnsworth

Donald “Bones” E. Farnsworth, age 78, of Mission, Texas, formerly of Iowa City died Sunday, March 7, 2004, at Kindred Hospital in Ft. Worth Texas from complications of a stroke recently suffered. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, March 12, 2004, at Zion Lutheran Church in Iowa City with the Reverend Dwight DuBois officiating. Burial with military honors will be held at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City, followed by a celebration of Bone’s life with a party at the Highlander, everyone is welcome. Visitation will be from 4 to 7p.m., Thursday at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. A memorial fund has been established in his memory for Iowa City City High School. Online condolences may be sent for his family through our website @www.gayandciha.com. Donald Eugene Farnsworth was born February 25, 1926, in Iowa City, the son of Robert H. and Mary Elizabeth (Griffith) Farnsworth. He attended Longfellow Elementary and graduated from Iowa City City High School in 1944. During WWII Don served in the United States Army receiving the Purple Heart for injuries received during battle in Okinawa, Japan. Returning to Iowa City following his service he married Dorothy Jean Hornung on November 11, 1948. For over thirty years, Don worked as a mail carrier, early in his career as a city carrier, and for many of those years as a rural carrier. He retired in 1981, at which time he and Dorothy moved to Texas. Prior to moving to Texas, Don and Dorothy were members of Zion Lutheran Church in Iowa City. Don was also bestowed the title of Mayor for Sugar Bottom Campgrounds, which he held for many years. Don worked as a State High School Official in the Mississippi Conference for twenty-five years, and for the Iowa Athletic Union for more than twenty years. During these years Don received numerous awards and recognitions including in 1973 the IHSAA official award, 1977 for his many years in the State AAU, 1983 inducted in the AAS Hall of Fame as an official, and in 1985 inducted into the IHSAA Hall of Fame. If you knew Bones, you knew that he “never missed a call”! His family includes his wife, Dorothy; sons and their wives, Dick and Barb Farnsworth of Iowa City, and Mike and Pam Farnsworth of Whittier, CA; daughter and her husband, Nancy and Paul Dunlap of Ft. Worth, TX; grandchildren, Jason and Krista Farnsworth, and Katie, Ricky and Christopher Dunlap. Don was preceded in death by his parents, sisters, Margaret, Dorothy, and Marion; brothers, Glen, Robert, Howard, and Hubert.