Memorial
John C. Weld, a longtime teacher and coach at Cedar Rapids Jefferson High School, passed from this life on May 31, 2026, surrounded by family. He was 86.
A celebration of life will be held at 2:30 p.m Saturday, June 6, 2026, at the Cedar Memorial Westside Chapel, located at 1221 First Ave SW in Cedar Rapids. All who knew John are invited. A private family inurnment ceremony will precede the event.
John was born on November 3, 1939, in Clarion, Iowa, to David Elwin and Alice Berniece Weld, the youngest of three children. He was raised in Hubbard, Iowa, where he graduated from high school in 1957. Following high school, he continued his education at Ellsworth Junior College and then Iowa State Teachers College (later the University of Northern Iowa). He was proud to have been a member of the final graduating class at ISTC before the school changed its name. He later earned his master’s degree from the University of Northern Colorado.
In 1968, John was united in marriage to Iona Fields. The old story goes that when John first met Iona, he gently teased her about her name, and said he was just going to call her “Cathy.” But the name stuck, and John and Cathy spent more than 40 years together, creating a lifetime of memories, before Cathy’s passing in 2009.
John began his career as a history teacher and wrestling coach in Nashua, Iowa. After four years, he moved to Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids where he would spend nearly four decades helping shape the lives of the thousands of students with whom he crossed paths. In the early years at Jefferson, he was an assistant wrestling coach and a part of the staff that won multiple state championships in the early 1970s. Later, as the school’s first volleyball coach, he laid the foundation for a thriving program during its formative years in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2022, he was inducted into the CR Jefferson Athletics Hall of Fame.
But John’s greatest passion was for history, and for sharing that passion with his students. During his time at Jefferson, he taught World History, Government, U.S. History, and his favorite class, AP US History. For most of his tenure, Mr. Weld’s classroom occupied the central spot in the school’s main hallway, where you could see the photo of the partially carved Mount Rushmore in the window by the door and the rows of historical quotations plastered along the front and back walls. He was often selected as a most influential teacher by graduating seniors, and on several occasions, he took groups of students on trips to the East Coast to visit historic sites in the region – trips dubbed “The Magical History Tour.” He was also an adjunct faculty member at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.
John retired from teaching in 2001, and he and Cathy spent the following years as “snowbirds,” splitting time between Cedar Rapids and Mesa, Arizona. John also became an avid bicyclist, logging thousands of miles every year and participating in RAGBRAI on multiple occasions. In his later years, he took up golf, and enjoyed spending time on the links with some of his lifelong friends. Always a student of history, John could frequently be found with a book nearby or with a historical documentary on the television, most often about World War II.
Following Cathy’s passing in 2009, John met Joyce Kellogg, a fellow snowbird who also wintered in Mesa. John and Joyce became close companions and traveling partners, taking trips to Canada, Alaska, Europe, and dozens of other spots across the country. Joyce survives at her home in Ottawa, Illinois.
As much as John loved teaching history, his greatest love was for his family. John and Cathy raised two children, Aimee Weld Hospodarsky and her husband Todd, of Monticello, Iowa; and Andy Weld and his wife Jena, of Blytheville, Arkansas. It brought John great satisfaction that all four spent their professional careers in the field of public education.
But John’s greatest pride and joy were his four grandchildren: Tyler Hospodarsky and his wife Samantha of Cedar Falls, Katie Weld of Fayetteville, Ark., Drew Weld and his wife Avery of Little Rock, Ark., and Grant Hospodarsky of Monticello. Whether it was celebrating a holiday or a milestone, traveling to Disney World, or just spending time on the telephone, John cherished every moment with them.
In addition to his wife, Cathy, John was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Don Weld; and one sister, Rosemary Harris.
The family wishes to thank the Villas at Stoney Point, the Gardens of Cedar Rapids, and Suncrest Hospice for their friendship, their community, and their incredible support for John and his family in his life and in his final days.
In lieu of flowers, John’s family has established the “John C. Weld Memorial Scholarship” which will support future UNI students wanting to become history teachers like John. Memorial gifts may be made through the UNI Foundation website, by selecting the “Other” designation and typing in John C. Memorial Scholarship. Memorials also may be sent to the University of Northern Iowa, payable to the UNI Foundation, with John C. Memorial Scholarship on the memo line and mailed to: University of Northern Iowa Foundation, 4025 Bartlett Hall, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0239.