Donald Harm

The funeral for Donald Harm, 86, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, will be held Saturday, August 18, 2012, at 11 a.m., at Hoy-Kilnoski Funeral Home in Council Bluffs. Visitation will be Friday, August 17, 2012, 7 to 9 p.m., at the funeral home. Don was born on November 7, 1925, to John and Wilhemina "Minnie" (Rischen) Harm on the family farm near Pierson, Iowa. Graduating from Pierson High School in 1943, he went into the Navy during World War II to serve on the USS Harrison. While playing basketball for Pierson High School, he met Delores Wenbourne who was a cheerleader from the Correctionville High School. They were married in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho by a military chaplain in 1944 before Don went overseas. When the chaplain asked if a certain day would be okay, they agreed. It wasn't until later it dawned on them that day was October 31. After leaving the Navy in 1946, Don and his new wife lived in Pierson where he worked as a mechanic. While in Pierson their daughter Pamela and son Steven were born. Sometime was also spent traveling while working road construction. In 1961 a move to Council Bluffs, where Don was a mechanic for construction companies in the Omaha area, became his home for 50 years. Don and Dee's daughter Kimberly was born here. He was active member of the Epworth United Methodist Church. He liked country music, slap-stick comedy, dancing, and bike riding. But puttering and making things work was his main hobby. Home maintenance and fixing cars were pretty time consuming and every neighborhood kid knew where to come for bike repairs. His joy was his relationship with people: his family, friends and neighbors. We will all miss him, but know his many sacrifices for us, whether on the family front, the neighborhood or the global arena of war, are now being rewarded in the spiritual realm. He died in the St. Louis metropolitan area on August 10, 2012, where he was close to his daughter Kimberly and her family. Don is survived by his three children: Pamela (Robert) Wittstruck, of Taylor, N.D., Steven Harm, of Omaha, Neb., Kimberly (Blake) Hoover, of Shiloh, Ill.; 5 grandchildren, Jonathan (Som) Harm, of Omaha, Jeffrey Wittstruck, of Omaha, Matthew (Alisha) Wittstruck, of Topeka, KS., Claire and Ella Hoover, of Shiloh, Ill.; and one sister, Marvel McCurdy of Denver, CO. He was preceded in death by parents, an infant brother, his wife, Delores and daughter-in-law, Michelle Harm.