Obituary of Alver Dingbaum

Survivors include his wife, Eileen, 1 son, Major Leon J. Dingbaum USAF of Iowa City; 3 daughters: Sandy Cosgrove of Cedar Rapids, Connie (Fred) DeShaw of Worthington, and Karol (Mike) Hoeger of Dyersville; 11 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild; 1 brother, Lester (Virgie) Dingbaum of Manchester; 5 sisters: Veryl Voss of Guttenberg, Therese Gibbs of Earlville, Dorothy Maiers of Dyersville, Rita (John) Garside of Dubuque and Julie (Leo) Gerken of Independence; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, 3 brothers-in-law: Anthony Voss, Bill Gibbs and Merlin Maiers; and a nephew, Keith Voss. Alver was born on August 28, 1930, in Petersburg, Iowa, the son of John and Irene (Koelker) Dingbaum. He was educated in the Petersburg schools and in 1952, he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War where he was assigned to the 179th Infantry Regiment, Heavy Mortar Company 45th Division. Alver spent 9 months on the front lines near Heartbreak Ridge in communications as a Ham Radio Operator. He was honorably discharged in 1960 as a Staff Sergeant and was awarded the National Defense Medal, the Korean Service Medal with 2 Bronze Stars, the Combat Infantry Badge and the United Nations Service Medal. Due to a loss of paperwork, he was unable to receive his Purple Heart. On April 20, 1954, Alver married Eileen E. Singsank in Luxemburg, Iowa. He was a hard worker all his life and after the time in the military, he began his married life as a farm hand. Then in 1956, he moved his family to Salt Lake City, Utah where he studied telegraphy for the railroad on the G.I. Bill and began work with the Illinois Central Railroad as a telegrapher. Alver moved his family back to Iowa in 1958 and became a trench digger for the Peoples Natural Gas Co. Then in 1960 he began his career with Dyersville Ready Mix as a cement truck driver, an occupation he thoroughly enjoyed. Alver remained with Ready Mix until his battle with Spinal Meningitis caused severe hearing loss in 1970. After persevering rehabilitation to overcome this new challenge, Alver's professional life became his passion as he put his disciplined, tenacious, and perfectionist skills to great use as an outstanding upholsterer. He owned and operated Dingbaum's Upholstery for 35 years and was well known in the community for all of the work he did. In 1988, after 17 years of complete deafness, Alver was fitted with a 3M Vienna Cochlear Implant which enabled him to hear some sounds and words by transmitting small amounts of electrical currents to the auditory nerve. He was the first one in the Dyersville area to receive this device. Alver was an avid card player who enjoyed a good game of euchre. He loved to go fishing, hunting and dancing and work on jigsaw puzzles. He loved to watch his grandson drive in Stock car races. His family was his life. He was a strong, energetic man who endured and overcame many obstacles while enjoying many milestones. He was a lifetime member of the Dyersville American Legion Post 137 and the New Vienna Veterans of Foreign Wars (V.F.W.) Post 7736, the Dyersville Sportsman Club and St. Francis Xavier Parish.