Memorial
Dwight Trump Kuster, Sr., age 88, passed away peacefully while surrounded by family members on the evening of December 28 after a long battle with dementia. He was a resident of Living Center West, for four and a half years, where he received excellent care. His visitation will be on Saturday, January 7, from 10 a.m. until noon at the Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with a funeral service immediately following.
Dwight was born on May 26, 1934, in Burlington, Iowa. He was the second of 10 children born to Zachary and Jeanette (Trump) Kuster. As the oldest son in a large family, he bore a lot of responsibility at a young age. He was a paper boy for the Burlington Hawkeye and gave his parents money to help out. He made sure the family had a Christmas tree every year. He had grit and strong values and was a mentor to his siblings.
Dwight was a proud teammate on the 1951 Burlington High School state football championship team. He graduated in the spring of 1952 and later that fall, married his high-school sweetheart, Geraldine Minthorn. He worked at his dad’s gas station in White Acres and sold baked goods door-to-door. He was a fantastic salesman, honest, hard-working and conscientious.
Dwight took classes at Burlington Junior College, then headed north to Cedar Rapids, where he began a successful career in the life insurance industry. Dwight’s first opportunity was with Metropolitan Life; selling policies and collecting premiums and in short order was promoted to sales manager. He began Chartered Life Underwriter courses and passed all the rigorous testing requirements in order to earn his CLU designation in 1980.
After 20 years at MetLife, he next became a general agent for National Life of Vermont, then regional vice president at Ohio National Life in Omaha, Nebraska. Ten years later, Dwight and his family returned to Cedar Rapids, where he opened his own agency, Kuster and Associates, and was appointed the Eastern Iowa General Agent for Central Life of Iowa.
At age 58, Dwight retired and started to enjoy the rewards of his life’s work. Gerry and he traveled the world. Austria, Canada, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Scotland, Tahiti and various other U.S. states and cities. They wintered at a golf course community in Diamondhead, Mississippi, for 21 years.
Dwight loved to golf and in his lifetime, carded five holes-in-one. “You get kind of used to them after the first three or four,” he used to joke. He had a fantastic sense of humor, a huge heart and was a natural leader. He was actively involved with Habitat for Humanity, was a Paul Harris Fellow with Rotary International, past President of The Sertoma Club and past President of Elmcrest Country Club, all in Cedar Rapids.
Dwight was preceded in death by his parents, his siblings Mary (Levins), Sandra (Finnegan), Dean and Doren, and his brothers-in-law James Eastburn, Michael Finnegan, and Patrick Levins.
Dwight is survived by his wife of 70 years, Gerry Kuster; his children, Dwight (Ellen) Kuster, Jr., Pamela Kohll, and Jennifer (Matt) Young; his brothers Tom (Jeannie) Kuster and Dennis (Joyce) Kuster; his sisters Deborah Eastburn, Karen (Larry) Eickmann, and Jan (Frank) Hennenfent, sisters-in-law Sherry Kuster and Linda Kuster, nine grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
In lieu of flowers, consider donating to the Alzheimer’s Association at act.alz.org. or perhaps go out for a steak dinner with family and friends. Raise a glass and make a toast in honor of Dwight. He would love that.