- Date Of Birth: February 12, 1929
- Date Of Death: November 9, 2021
- State: Iowa
Donald Warren Stevenson from rural Mitchellville, Iowa went to be with the Lord on November 9, 2021.
Don was born on August 12, 1929, to Ralph Warren Stevenson and Edna Lucille (Barrett) Stevenson. His parents farmed in Washington township, Jasper County, Iowa where Don was raised along with his older sister Peggy Jean (Stevenson) Crusan in a tight-knit local farming community that included his paternal grand-parents, Everett W. and Birdie E. Stevenson, and maternal grandparents, Alfred and Malinda Barrett. He and Peggy attended the Prairie Bell one-room schoolhouse through 8th grade, then Mitchellville High School.
Don quit high school at age 17 and joined the army with the intent of obtaining the G.I. Bill, the only way he could afford to attend college. He was stationed in San Francisco where he obtained his GED and was honorably discharged in 1947. After returning to Iowa, Don enrolled in Iowa State University where he earned a degree in farm operations.
Don married Lorna June Burnett on September 10, 1950, and following graduation in 1951, they moved to a farm with Don’s parents where they farmed for 45 years. They had three children, Marcia Ann (Stevenson) Fritch, Gregory Wayne Stevenson, and Maria Ellen (Stevenson) Maixner. Don’s greatest loves and joys were his families, his faith in Jesus Christ, and farming. He treasured his family’s farming heritage and would tell stories of his parents, grandparents, and great grand-parents that preceded him on his land. He and Lorna enjoyed wintering in Arizona in their later years together.
Following Lorna’s death, Don married Shirley Joanne Carpenter on November 27, 2011. They lived in Altoona, then later in Mill Pond Retirement Community in Ankeny, and enjoyed family, friends, traveling, and wintering in Arizona. Don died surrounded in his final hours by Shirley and his children.
Don was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, his first wife, Lorna; and his great-grandchild, Jude Wesley Stevenson, and is survived by his wife, Shirley, his children, 9 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren.
