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Jonathan L Engelstad

April 25, 1956 - December 20, 2021

Late afternoon on December 20, 2021, our beloved husband and father, Jonathan, died suddenly at home due to apparent heart failure. He struggled for 20 years with various health issues stemming from treatments of a childhood cancer.

Visitation will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, January 14, 2022 at Memorial Services of Iowa (4208 N Ankeny Blvd). The funeral service will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (517 SW Des Moines St) at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 15, 2022, with a luncheon to follow. The service will be livestreamed at the following link: https://bit.ly/htlc-funeral

Jonathan was born April 25, 1956 in Grafton, North Dakota to Stephen and Viola Engelstad. He was the fourth child born out of six. As a son of a Lutheran pastor, Jon grew up in many towns in the Midwest: Fairdale, North Dakota; Irene, South Dakota; Rockford, Iowa; Estherville, Iowa and St. Ansgar, Iowa.

After graduating from St. Ansgar High School in 1975, he attended Hawkeye Community College (Hawkeye Institute of Technology) in Waterloo and received his Mechanical Drafting Degree and Associates of Applied Science. He continued his education at Drake University earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration by taking night classes while working full-time at John Deere.

On May 24, 1986, Jon was united in marriage with Debbie Gruber at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Ankeny. Jon’s father, Pastor Stephen Engelstad, presided over the ceremony. Almost a decade later, they were thrilled to welcome their daughter, Brooke, in 1995. They were then blessed with their son, Brandon, to complete their family in 1997. Jon absolutely adored his children, and loved being a father more than anything else.

He retired from John Deere in 2009 after 32 years of service as a Procurement Engineer. He had many accomplishments while at John Deere, including his participation in the development of six different patents. He also had the privilege of traveling for work to various countries overseas, including Spain, Germany, Italy, and France.

Jon had a passion for music and participated in the Drake University Community Chorus for several years. He enjoyed spending time with family, working on cars, eating out at restaurants, watching history documentaries on PBS, and shopping at his two favorite places, Menards and eBay.

He is survived by his loving wife of 35 years, Debbie; daughter, Brooke (Brandon) Kuehl of Belton, MO; son, Brandon Engelstad of Ankeny; sisters, Dianne Oehler, Joy (Tad) Martin, and Janice (Paul) Kittredge, all of California; brothers, David Engelstad of Iowa City, and Daniel (Kathleen) Engelstad of California.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Stephen and Viola Engelstad; and brother-in-law, William Oehler.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family or donated to the American Heart Association at www.heart.org.