Memorial

John Edward Schenken was known for announcing, “Golf is my life!” at Glen Oaks Country Club tournaments. He died Thursday morning, December 3 at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Schenken was born in Waco, Texas, on December 27, 1943.

The son of Viola Kling and Hugo Schenken, he grew up in Cedar Rapids, where he spent summer days honing his golf skills. After graduating from Cedar Rapids Washington High School in 1962, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Iowa. After working for Colgate Soap Division for several years, he and Charles A. Haas of Des Moines became partners at Cobbs Manufacturing in Des Moines. They bought out their silent partners in 1978.  Schenken and Haas were well known at the East Des Moines Club, where they spent extended lunch hours playing pitch and telling stories. Schenken traveled the country, selling the ever-expanding line of auto accessories manufactured at the company factory in Des Moines. The partners sold the business in 2002. 

Schenken was a board member of the local Planned Parenthood clinic in Des Moines in the 1970s, active in the after-hours arts program sponsored by the chamber of commerce, and a president of Glen Oaks Country Club. He was a member of Windsor Heights Lutheran Church from 1992 until he moved to Marion, Iowa, in 2008. Schenken founded the Cat Companions for Senior’s in Cedar Rapids.

John loved Iowa sports, music and Cars. While he cheered for the Cyclones, he was passionate about Iowa Hawkeye Football. He was in a choir in his youth and was known for his rendition of Del Shannon’s “Runaway.”  John owned a sports car most of his life which he mostly drove to get ice cream.   

He married Bertine Loop while a student at the University of Iowa. They divorced in 1972. He married Suzanne O’Dea in 1974. They had two children, Marguerite-Louise O’Dea Schenken of Eureka, California, and William O’Dea Schenken of Bellingham, Washington. John was preceded in death by his parents Hugo Schenken and Viola Schenken. He is survived by his children, his granddaughter Abigail Violet, his sister Judy Andrew of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and his fiancé Susan (Suki) Morrissey of Marion, her children Alison Egolf of Mount Vernon, Shanna Cooper of Cedar Rapids and grandchildren Owen, Noah, Sienna, Addison, and Tatum. 

Funeral service: 1:00 pm Saturday, December 12, 2015 at the Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories with Certified Celebrant Amy Hart officiating. Burial will be in Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00-6:00 pm Friday at the Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home.

The family requests that any memorials be sent to Friends Helping Friends, PO Box 9764, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52409 and note the John Schenken Memorial Cat Companions Senior Program Fund.