John Junior McQuatters

PLYMOUTH: John Junior McQuatters, 86, of Plymouth, died Monday, May 5, 2008 at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit.  Funeral services will be held 10:30 AM Thursday at the Plymouth United Methodist Church will Pastor Jim Turner and Pastor Paul Schaefer of the Plymouth Bible Baptist Church officiating.  Interment will be in Sunset Rest Cemetery, Northwood.  Full military rites will be conducted by the Mason City Veterans Memorial Association.  Visitation will be one hour prior to services Thursday at the church.  Memorials may be given to Hospice of North Iowa.  John was born June 11, 1921 in Mason City the son of John L. and Hazel L. (Greene) McQuatters.  He grew up on the McQuatters farm in Northwood where he lived until the death of his grandfather, John McQuatters in the spring of 1932.  The family moved to Northwood and lived on North 8th Street in the old Dwelle Mansion.  In October of 1936 fire destroyed the mansion and he moved with his family to Mason City, graduating from Mason City High School in 1940.  In February of 1941, he was inducted into the 2nd Battalion of the 133rd Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa National Guard and went with his unit to Camp Claiborne, Louisiana.  On October 16, 1941, John was united in marriage to Marvyl B. Willey, daughter of Charles C. and Agatha Chehock Willey of Mason City in the Little Brown Church in Nashua.  Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he was among the first contingent of troops to be sent overseas.  His unit served in North Ireland, England, North Africa and Italy, a total of 42 months without a break to visit the states.  John was a life member of the VFW.  Upon his discharge in August of 1945, he returned to Mason City where he and his wife built their first home and where their two children, James and Julia were born.  In 1956, John and his family moved to Ventura, California where he worked as a draftsman for the Survey and Mapping Division of the Public Works Department of the county of Ventura as a Cartographer.  Among his many accomplishments, he was a kind and compassionate man, always fair in any business transaction.  At 16 years of age, he received his private pilots license.  John had a remarkable talent in that he could repair anything.  He was a builder, a model railroad, aircraft and photographer enthusiast.  Following his retirement from Ventura County, he opened and operated Quality Camera Repair Shop from 1978 to 1999, after which he and Marvyl moved to Henderson, Nevada to be near their daughter-in-law and two grandsons.  Also, in the past few years he researched his mothers family genealogy proving a direct descendent of Patriot Charles Greene, a Lieutenant in the American Revolution of Rhode Island, qualifying him for membership in the Sons of the American Revolution, Signers Chapter of Las Vegas, Nevada.  Johns family and church were very important parts of his life and he will be remembered as an honorable, caring, and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather.  He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Plymouth.  John will be missed by all who knew and loved him. 
 
John is survived by his wife Marvyl of Plymouth, daughter, Julia (Joseph L.) Contreras of Chula Vista, California, granddaughter, Claudine (Geoff) Contreras Wilkie of San Diego, California, daughter-in-law, Patricia Hackett McQuatters and grandsons, Richard and Michael McQuatters all of Henderson, Nevada, sisters-in-law, Marjy Marie Willey Schmitt of Paradise, California, Marcele M. (George) Willey Van Essen of Ventura, California, many nieces, nephews and cousins and long time friends, the Wayne Vath family. 
 
John was preceded in death by his parents, son, James, 2 brothers, H. Dale and Mac J. McQuatters, and a brother-in-law, Donald J. Schmitt.