Ronald "Ron" E. Dunkerson

Ronald’s funeral service will be 1 p.m., Monday, October 29th at the funeral home, conducted by Deacon Dan Goetz of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Newton.

The family will greet friends from 12-1 p.m., Monday, October 29th at the funeral home.

Burial will be at the Newton Memorial Park Cemetery in Newton.

Memorials to the Panora Public Library or to the Guthrie County Hospital may be left at the funeral home. If mailing the memorial to the funeral home please add, Attn: Dunkerson Family on the envelope.

Ronald Earl “Ron” Dunkerson, the son of Paul V. and L. Ethel Tucker Dunkerson was born on September 22, 1929 at the family farm home located southeast of Fontanelle, Iowa in Adams County. He rounded out his education playing basketball and baseball.  In 1947 Ronald obtained his first automobile--a black 1937 Ford 2-door.  He graduated from Richland High in 1948 with a total of thirteen students in his class. Following graduation, Ronald worked on his parent’s farm along with helping other farmers in the area.

On December 30, 1950 in Greenfield, Ronald married that pretty girl he met at the skating rink, Dolores Wambold and they made their home in Greenfield. They were blessed with three children, Keith, Mike and Rhonda. On September 1, 1951, Ronald began employment with Iowa State Telephone Company as a member of the line crew.  He also supplemented his income working with Pepsi Cola at night loading trucks.

In 1962 the family moved to Albia for a brief time as Ronald continued as District Manager.  In 1963, the family moved to Fairfield when Ronald became Area Manager for United Telephone Co. of Iowa.  In 1966 the family moved to Newton, Iowa where he worked in the Iowa General Office as Outside Plant Engineer.  Ron transferred to the Corporate Headquarters at Kansas City with United Telephone Co. in 1982 where he held a position of Special Service Consultant. He retired on July 1, 1990 from what is now called "Sprint" following 39 years of employment in telecommunications. Following Dolores’ death in 1988, Ronald was united in marriage with Joanne Lamp Drees on May 12, 1990 in Olathe, Kansas; they made their home there for a short time before moving to the Lake Panorama area. On May 1, 2016 Ron and Joanne left the Panorama community and made their final move to Greenfield, as it was his desire to return to his roots.

Ron enjoyed retirement spending time with family, making many friends in the community, playing cards, walking, Christmas caroling, cruises and spending winter months in Texas along with going over the border to experience Mexico. He also enjoyed fishing, reading, sports, and golf with frequent rounds on the nearby West Par 3 course.  Ron also worked part-time in maintenance at the course, which he enjoyed immensely.

Ronald died on Sunday, October 21, 2018 at the Good Samaritan Society in Fontanelle, Iowa. He was 89. He was preceded in death by his parents, first wife, Dolores in 1988; daughter-in-law, Joni Dunkerson; step son-in-law, Ron Herr; and a great grandchild.

Those left to honor Ronald’s memory are his wife, Joanne of Greenfield; sons, Keith (Sheila) Dunkerson of Newton and Mike Dunkerson of Reed Springs, Missouri; daughter, Rhonda (Don) McCann of Marshalltown; his three grandchildren, Chris (Amy) McCann of Chicago, Illinois, Bryan (Jill) McCann of Grinnell and Brandon (Chelsea) Dunkerson of Newton; eight great-grandchildren and a step great-grandchild; his step daughter, Barbra Drees Herr (Greg) McCann of Tyndall, South Dakota; four step grandchildren, John, Stephen, Philip and David Herr; his sister, Lola (J. Clifford) Schrader of Prescott; and many friends.

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