Funeral services for Don Strassburg, 90, Perry will be 10:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 4 at the First United Methodist Church. Burial with military honors will follow at Violet Hill Cemetery. Visitation will begin at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, with the family receiving friends from 5-7 p.m. at Murdock Funeral Home.
Don passed away Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019, at the VA Central Iowa Health Care System in Des Moines, Iowa, under hospice care.
Donald Edwin Strassburg was born Sept. 27, 1929, the son of Dr. Harry Edwin and Carrie Alice (Shaffer) Strassburg in Marshalltown, Iowa.
The family moved to Zearing, Iowa, where Don attended school, graduating from Zearing High School with the class of 1947. He started his college career at the University of Iowa in 1948 and transferred in 1949 to Westmar University in Le Mars, Iowa.
Don left Westmar and entered the U.S. Navy July 14, 1951, serving until his Honorable Discharge July 8, 1955. A Korean Veteran, he served in Yokohama, Japan, and on the USS Frontier (AD-25) destroyer tender.
After his discharge, he returned to Westmar and graduated in 1956.
Don married the love of his life, Opal W. Wilde, April 25, 1954, in Le Mars, Iowa.
Don and Opal moved to Perry in September 1959, where he began work at Forbes Shoe Store. Don bought the store in 1961 and named it Don’s Shoes. He closed the store in 1988.
He worked a few years for Idea Press before he retired.
Don was very active in the DECA Program and served many years on the Perry Park Board.
Don was never to be missed at “Coffee” group, a favorite pastime along with pool playing.
He was a member of First United Methodist Church, Masonic Lodge, Elks Club, Lions Club and a member of the Perry Golf and Country Club, where he spent time playing many rounds of golf.
Survivors include one son, Bruce (Cheri) Strassburg of The Woodlands, Texas; two granddaughters, Randi (Ryan) Ballard of Huntsville, Texas, and Amanda Jo Strassburg of Austin, Texas; one sister, Mary Alice Sargent of Dover, N.H.
Preceding Don in death were his parents, Dr. Harry and Carrie Alice (Shaffer) Edwin; one son, Steven Strassburg, on Nov. 22, 2014; and his wife, Opal(Wilde) Strassburg, on Aug. 27, 2015.
Memorials may be directed to the Perry Parks and Recreation Department in Don’s name and may be left or sent to Murdock Funeral Home.
