Obituary for John "Jack" Minehart

John D. (Jack) Minehart, Cedar Falls, died on October 5, 2010 at Covenant Medical Center of natural causes. There is no visitation planned and a memorial service will be held at a later date. Iowa Cremation is assisting the family. Jack was born December 15, 1935 in Waterloo, IA, the son of Dale Emal Minehart and Neva Eileen (Morford) Minehart. He lived most of his life in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area and, in recent years, at his family’s lakeshore home near Squaw Lake, MN where he was a nationally-renowned builder of birch bark canoes. He was married November 16, 1957 to his high school sweetheart Mary Ellen Bertch at St. Edward’s Church in Waterloo. They are the parents of John E. (Jack Jr.) and his wife Chin of Forney, TX, Christine Rannells and husband Scott of Cedar Falls, and David D. Minehart and his wife Sharon of Centerville, MA. Minehart is also survived by his beloved grandchildren Katie Minehart of Centerville, Sam and Luke Rannells of Cedar Falls, and a sister, Jill Minehart-Swale of rural Buckingham. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant daughter, Elizabeth Eileen. Mr. Minehart graduated from Waterloo West High School in 1953, received his BA (1960) and MA (1970) degrees in education and history from the University of Northern Iowa. Much of his graduate work was done at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. He was a lifelong member of the alumni associations at both schools. He was a Korean-era veteran of the United States Marine Corps, honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1958, and was a life member of the Third Marine Division Association and the Northome, MN chapter of the American Legion. Mr. Minehart’s entire professional career was spent as a teacher in the Cedar Falls Community Schools, from which he retired in 1995 after 35 years of continuous service. He prided himself on the consequent success of many of his former students, several of whom maintained a correspondence with him throughout his life. He was a recipient of the Cedar Falls Chamber of Commerce “Outstanding Young Educator Award” in 1965 and was among nominees for Iowa Teacher of the Year on several subsequent occasions. He also mentored nearly 30 student teachers from the UNI education department during their classroom internships in the Cedar Falls secondary schools. Online condolences may be left at www.iowacremation.com