Obituary of John C. Mckiness

Reverend John C. McKiness, 82 of Windmill Manor Care Center in Coralville where he died Wednesday, January 3, 2007. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday, January 8, 2007, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Iowa City with the Reverend Mitchell Otto officiating. Burial will be at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 pm Sunday at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. Memorial donations can be made in John’s memory to any one of the following, Habitat for Humanity, Lutheran World Relief, Lutherans for Life, or the American Institute for Cancer Research. Online condolences may be sent for his family through our website @www.gayandciha.com. John Claude McKiness was born May 21, 1924, in Rochelle, IL the son of Claude and Ada (Babcock) McKiness. Following graduation from high school in Rochelle he enlisted in the Army Air Corps during WWII. On April 24, 1948, he married Wilma Sahs. The couple farmed the family farm until 1963, when he entered seminary at Concordia Seminary in Springfield, IL. He was ordained in August of 1966. H served as Pastor at the following churches, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, near Charter Oak, and Trinity Lutheran Church near Ida Grove, Iowa from 1966-1969; Immanuel Lutheran Church, rural Hinckley, IL 1969-1978; Immanuel Evangelical Church, Richton Park, IL from 1978-1986, and part-time as Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Iowa City from 1986 – 1995, retiring in 1995. Since retirement he has been a member of Prince the Peace Lutheran Church in Coralville. His family includes his children, John P. McKiness and his wife, Janice of Coralville, Deborah K. Thoe of Iowa City, James D. McKiness and his wife, Heather of Cedar County, Iowa; and seven grandchildren. John was preceded in death by his parents, wife, Wilma; and three sisters, Bonnie McCaslin, Iva Smardo, and Silvia Krug. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Pastor’s family and his services.