Bruce Tanner - August 11, 1981
Jack Taylor February 24, 2024
Mason City - Funeral services for Bruce D Tanner, who died
of an accidental gunshot wound Tuesday will be held at Holy Catholic Family
Church, Mason City. Burial will be in
Elmwood Cemetery.
Mr Tanner was a 1978 graduate pf Mason City High School and
attended North Iowa Area Community College.
For the past two summers he had been employed by HC Price Pipeline
Co. He was a member of Holy Family
Catholic Church.
Survivors include his mother, Mrs. Lucille Tanner, Mason
City; two sisters, Jean Tanner and Rose Tanner, both of Mason City; two
brothers James, Mason City, and Donald, stationed with the US Army in Fort
Lewis, Washington.
(from the Funeral bulletin: Pallbearers were Doug Lumm, Mike
Bailey, Andy Stewart, Gary Marshall, Joel LaChance, and Steve Schlosser.)
Jack Taylor February 24, 2024
Jack Taylor, 63, of Rochester, Minnesota, formerly of Ames, Iowa, passed away on February 24, 2024, surrounded by his loving family.
Jack's unwavering positivity and profound love for his family and friends was an inspiration to all who met him. Jack will be remembered for his kind spirit, generous smile, and common sense approach to life. He loved to laugh.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Vicki, and their two children Keaton and Riley. They were his greatest pride and joy.
In keeping with Jack's wishes, the family will gather to celebrate Jack's life at a later date.
Ken Taylor
Shelly Taylor Doescher
Linda Terlisner
Dennis Tevis
Kay Thompson Abele
Sherrie Thompson Ehlers
Lance Thompson


Time flies like the wind. And I’ll admit to having more than my share of good luck. After high school, I went off to NIACC and ISU for a BS in Computer Engineering. I learned to have a little more fun while I studied. Partied a little, dated a little, studied a lot - all in all, I enjoyed my college days.
Then it was off to work at IBM in Endicott, NY. But IBM was only my day job. I was really trying to break into the world of auto racing with the idea of racing in Europe at some point. So I drove Formula Fords a bit in Canada and then bought my own Formula Vee which I raced at places like Watkins Glen and Lime Rock Park. Racing wasn’t exciting enough, so I bought one of the first Honda VF500F Interceptors, a wicked fast motorcycle, for extra entertainment.
Here’s where the luck comes in. One rainy evening on the way home from work on the Interceptor, I dropped it. More like I locked the front wheel and it spat me off. There I was, sliding on my chest in one lane, the bike shedding sparks as it slid in the next lane, and the car that was trying to miss us on the shoulder. That guy gets high marks for paying attention. The result was not even a scratch. Needless to say, I felt I had just used up all the luck on the planet. But wait, there’s more. At Watkins Glen, I managed to lose control of the race car and hit a guardrail head-on at about 85 mph. I was quite happy to walk away from that although I still have the scar where my leg should have been smashed to bits. There wasn’t enough left of the car to save, so we threw that one away and built a second car which I raced for one more season.
There was even more luck available as I met and married Debbie. A bit of bad luck hit us when she was diagnosed with leukemia 6 months after we were married. Lady Luck smiled again though and after a year of treatment she was turned loose by her doctor. Treatment for Leukemia is chemotherapy that “goes to 11” if you know what I mean. It was truly vicious stuff that she went through that year. She’s been in remission for 30 years. In 2018, Debbie and I divorced; neither one of us was the same person as 31 years ago and it was time for each of us to move on.
I gave up racing in 1989. Formula 1 World Driving Champion just wasn’t in the cards and I was past my sell by date :-). So, I switched from flying on the ground to flying in the air and learned how to fly. That was a lot of fun, but a lot of work too. As time went by, and as security procedures became more invasive, flying stopped being fun. Not only that, a mistake in an airplane can ruin your whole day. Golf seemed like a better diversion, where mistakes are measured by the number of golf balls you lose :-)
I moved the family to Rochester MN in 1992 due to some resource shuffling by IBM and had two bright, beautiful daughters, Danielle (1992) and Michaela (1996). Danielle is now a nurse at St Mary’s in Rochester, MN, and Michaela is a ballet dancer with Fort Wayne Ballet in Fort Wayne, IN. I can’t forget the dogs, Teddy and Charlie. They are Welsh Pembroke Corgi’s. Corgis are a herding dog and are super smart, independent, stubborn, and fun dogs. Teddy passed away in 2014. Charlie is still hanging around.
I’m still with IBM having managed to dodge a number of “resource actions.” I’ve been there 35 years now doing everything from engineering to programming to sales. I’ve started to look into what to do after retirement (which may come sooner rather than later). I got back into photography when Michaela was learning ballet and started my own little photo business. I focus on dancers since I spent a lot of time photographing Michaela as she developed her ballet skills. I work with a couple of the local dance studios to shoot performances and help out the upper level dancers as they need audition photos. Look me up on Facebook at Lance Thompson Photography or on the web at lancethompsonphotography.zenfolio.com
40 years in just a few paragraphs…
Mark Thompson
Barb Thornbury Meeker

We’ve connected with a great circle of friends in the area. We have six families that we camped with as the kids were growing up, and we all refer to each other as “our camping family”. They have definitely become our extended family, and we still remain close and vacation together.
We play sand volleyball on an over 50 league at our local bar in Elkhart during the summer. It’s just a fun pick-up league and more of a social outing with some exercise thrown in.
Pre-kids I bowled on a women’s league. The team decided we really didn’t like bowling, we just liked to get together. So we quit bowling and agreed to meet one night a month. 27 years later, we are still meeting for dinner and drinks. Our nights have definitely gotten shorter as we age. We used to stay out until midnight, but now we are always home in time to catch the news.
I have a lot of great memories of my high school years, and I think it’s best if they aren’t in print!
Barb Meeker
2767 NE 126th Ave.
Elkhart,IA 50073
515-238-4741
Dave Tillou
Thang Ton
Mike Torkelson
Sue Tripkosh Leutwyler
Becky True Shannon
Bill Tyler - May 21, 2019
MASON CITY - William Galen Tyler, 60, of Mason City, died Tuesday, May 21, in Mason City. A Celebration of Life will be 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, June 9, at Georgia Hanford Park in Mason City. Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. 4th St., Clear Lake; 641-357-2193.; ColonialChapels.com.
Tim Tyler - May 29, 2015
A Celebration of Life for Timothy Tyler will be held
at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 25, at Open Bible Church, 609 S. Eighth St., Clear
Lake.
Diane Vallery Hawbaker

Married to Devon Hawbaker for 32 years.
6 children-5 living.
- Katelyn died in 1990 after open heart surgery complications at 6 weeks old.
- Matt Hansen, married with 3 children
- Abby Hansen, married with 3 children (1 step).
- Kelsey Hawbaker married with 3 children.
- Sasha Hawbaker ( adopted age 16) and had Nickoli)
- Nickoli Hawbaker ( adopted)
- 9 grandchildren. 22 (step), 11, 9, 5, 4, 2, 1, 1, 5 months.
I work for Wells Fargo as a Technology Manger and have been there for 23 years in March.
We live in Dallas Center, Iowa where Devon grew up and have been there for 22 years.
Hope you are well!
Julie VanEtten Skea
Don VanWey
Beth VanZomeren

Ross and I did not have
children and will have been married 30 years this December. To celebrate our
anniversary, we recently took a Viking River cruise down the Rhine River. We have no current plans to retire but would
like to travel more. We own a condominium in Eagan, Minnesota and try to get to
our “urban cabin” when time allows. We love the fact that Hy-Vee has expanded
into Minnesota and has a new store near our condo.
My first professional
position was as a Regional Planner in Spencer, Iowa. After a year, I was fortunate to be hired as
a City Planner for the City of Minneapolis. I stayed there for 13 years and
during that time I married Ross Harris MCHS ’79. During our time in Minnesota, I served as an
Executive Director for a regional planning agency, as a Senior Planner at the
Met Council, a Senior Right of Way agent for Xcel Energy, as a Site Acquisition
Specialist for FMHC and as Real Estate Investigator for the Minneapolis Park
and Recreation Board. I had thought I’d be an architect but ended up working in
planning, land development and acquisition.
It’s been a good run.
Ten years ago, we decided to
move back to Iowa when Ross accepted a position with an engineering company
that had an office in Johnston, Iowa. We
moved here the week that all hell broke loose with the flooding in
Iowa—mid-June 2008. The economy also
seemed to tank around that time and I have to reinvent myself career-wise. I
went to work in the Emergency Management field helping the state recovery from
the extensive flooding.
With the relocation to Iowa
we have gained a better quality of life. We’ve been able to get more involved
in our local community since we spend a lot less time commuting. I am currently
a Board Member of our local historical society and also serve on the city’s
Board of Adjustment. I really enjoy
event planning and fundraising. Ross and I have been asked to serve on Johnston’s
50th anniversary planning committee and we’re looking forward to
coming up with some great events to mark that occasion in 2019.
Currently, my job is in
transition as my company was acquired by T-Mobile in January. I will become a
Project Manager, Development in July for T-Mobile unless another opportunity
presents itself in the next month. In my free time I enjoy creative activities
like home décor projects, card making, scrapbooking, and sewing. I am an avid
Cyclone fan and am looking forward to football this fall and hopefully winning
a bowl game! Over the years I seem to have acquired a large collection of
Delft, numerous cookbooks, and books about Iowa. I have too many interests and
not enough time!
Looking forward to seeing
everyone at the reunion this summer.