Gary Houseal

Gary G. Houseal, 80, of Germanville, passed away Thursday, March 7, 2024 at University of Iowa Healthcare Medical Center Downtown in Iowa City.

Friends may call after 1:00 p.m. Friday, March 15, 2024 at Behner Funeral Home in Fairfiled with the family greeting friends from 4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. Memorial services celebrating his life will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 16th at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Jefferson County Little League or Stars and Stripes Wrestling Club.

Gary was born December 3, 1943 in Washington, Iowa, the son of Bennie and Darlene (Manning) Houseal. He married Cheryl Ann Droz, February 19, 1961 at First Lutheran Church in Fairfield. She preceded him in death, July 9, 2019.

Gary worked in auto body repair and farmed for over 40 years. He enjoyed “mud runs”, motorcycles, driving in his convertible, and going out to eat. Gary helped coach little league in his earlier years.

Those left to honor his memory include his children, Kelly (Morris) Hillgartner of Lockridge and Kirk (Maria) Houseal of Farmington, Minnesota; grandchildren, Adam and Bradley Hillgartner, Nicole (Joe) Kerlin, and Anna (Kris) Lopez; three great-grandchildren; and his sister, Cedra Schlatter of Olds, Iowa.

In addition to his wife, Gary was preceded in death by his parents.

Online condolences may be made to Gary’s family by viewing his obituary at www.behnerfh.com.

 

Human Remains Discovered in Burlington

The Burlington Police Department has initiated a death investigation after human remains were discovered on March 7, 2024, in the 900-block of South Main Street in Burlington.

The Burlington Police Department believes this is an isolated incident and there is no danger to the public.

The identity of the individual and circumstances surrounding the death are being investigated by Burlington Police Department detectives.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Crime Scene Section of the DCI Criminalistics Laboratory are assisting with the investigation.

Further details will be released after the investigation is completed.

Sports, March 8th

Boys’ State Basketball

Championship Friday’s matchups are set and here’s how yesterday played out. 

For the Class 2A semifinal, #1 Western Christian clobbered #5 Treynor 76-45. Kaden VanRegenmorter led the scoring with 21 points.

#2 Hudson narrowly defeated #6 Unity Christian after the Knights outscored the Pirates 17 to 9 in the fourth quarter. Camden Davis finished the game with 16 points and nine rebounds. 

#1 Western Christian will take on #2 Hudson today at 3 pm.

In Class 3A, #1 Decorah and #4 Assumption needed overtime to decide the game and it was the Knights who pulled off the upset 61-53. Daymen Jackson and Kayvion Hodges combined for 43 points in the win as Hodges collected a double-double with 13 rebounds. 

#2 Waverly-Shell Rock’s Luke Frazell went off for 31 points in the win over MOC-Floyd Valley 76-66. #4 Assumption will face off against #2 Waverly-Shell Rock at 5 pm tonight.

For Class 4A, #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy handled #5 Ankeny 63-51. Cyrus Courtney cashed in for 17 points and a team high three steals in the win.

Lastly, #6 Bettendorf could not pull off another upset as #2 Valley stomped the Bulldogs 66-46. Kiki Deng led the scoring with a game high 18 points. #1 Cedar Rapids Kennedy will compete against #2 Valley tonight at 7 pm.

To start off championship Friday, Class 1A’s matchup will be between #1 North Linn and #2 Marquette Catholic. 

All-Substate and All-Region Teams

For Class 1A Substate 5: Hunter Hughes of WACO, Luke Hellige of Holy Trinity Catholic, Liam Delaney of Burlington Notre Dame, Jackson Lanz of Wapello, and Cam Buffington and Abram Edwards of Winfield-Mt. Union earned the honor. Wolves head coach Klay Edwards nabbed Coach of the Year.

For Class 2A Substate 4, West Burlington populated the list with Mason Watkins and Brady Martin, while head coach Cody VanFleet garnered Coach of the Year honors after bringing the Falcons to their first state tournament appearance. 

Lastly for Class 3A Substate 5, Payton Hagans of Mt. Pleasant grabbed a spot after averaging 22.8 points per game. Jaxon Clark of Keokuk also earned a spot after averaging a double-double. 

On the girls’ side, Jaeda Molle of Danville and Tatum Wolford of Wapello earned a spot on the Region 7 team.

For Region 8, Holy Trinity Catholic’s seniors Mary Kate Bendlage and Natalie Randolph garnered a spot. 

Mediapolis’ Grace Holsteen made the Class 3A Region 1 team as a sophomore.

In Class 4A Region 1, Kendra Boatman and Makenna Altgilbers made the All-Region team for Keokuk.

High School Track and Field

The Mt. Pleasant girls’ team will compete at Iowa State today.

The WACO boys’ and girls’ teams will travel to Central College on March 14th to start their season.

The Winfield-Mt. Union and New London boys’ teams will travel to Danville on March 18th to get the season rolling. 

High School Bowling

The Southeast Conference has released the girls’ and boys’ All-Conference teams as Keokuk swept the conference championships.

Keokuk, the Class 2A state champion, had four bowlers make the All-Conference First Team in Allison Sapp, Sophia Rule, Jaelylnn Ketterer, and Addi Spicer. Sapp led the way with a two game total of 436 as Ketterer clinched a spot in the state tournament and exited as the individual state champion.

Mt. Pleasant’s Addison McGehearty had the fifth highest conference score with 350 total points as she was the lone Panther to be named First Team All-Conference. Additionally, McGhearty was a state qualifier.

The Panthers had four bowlers earn Second Team All-Conference honors in Kya Goodrich (state qualifier), Madelynn Millard, Shyann Smith, and Bethany Drury (state qualifier).

Katleyn Ott of Burlington was the final bowler to make the All-Conference First Team. 

Conference standings: Keokuk (2,870), Mt. Pleasant (2,415), Burlington (2,001), Fairfield (1,524), and Washington (1,007).

On the boys’ side, Keokuk finished as the conference champion as they were led by First Team All-Conference Honoree Pray Lawson as he had the fifth highest score of the match with 409 pins.

Mt. Pleasant had two student-athletes make the All-Conference First Team as Alec Payne was the top bowler in the conference with a two-game total of 463 pins. Keagan Ellington grabbed the final spot on the team with 408 pins.

Titus Reno earned Second Team All-Conference honors after bowling a 381 two-game total.

Keaton Lair of Burlington finished with the second highest score in the conference meet with a two-game total of 448 pins. Ian Mason grabbed Second Team All-Conference with a score of 398.

Caleb Zieglowsky of Washington nabbed the final spot on the All-Conference First Team with the third highest score in the conference as he finished with a two-game total of 447 pins.

Final Conference Standings: Keokuk (2,869), Burlington (2,804), Mt. Pleasant (2,741), Fairfield (2,520), and Washington (2,219).

College Basketball

The #3 Iowa women’s team grabbed the 2-seed in the Big Ten Tournament and will take on Penn State in the quarterfinal round at 5:30 pm tonight.

The Iowa State women’s team earned the 4-seed in the Big 12 Tournament and was awarded with a double bye into the quarterfinals. The Cyclones will play tomorrow, March 9th, at 11 am.

The #6 Iowa State men’s team will travel to take on Kansas State tomorrow at 1 pm.

The Iowa men’s team will celebrate senior night on March 10th against Illinois at 6 pm.

This Day in Sports History

1930 – Baseball slugger Babe Ruth signs 2-year contract for a then huge $160,000 with NY Yankees; GM Ed Barrow, wrongly predicts “No one will ever be paid more than Ruth.”

1936 – The first stock car race was held in Daytona Beach, Florida.

1971 – Joe Frazier ends Muhammad Ali’s 31-fight winning streak at Madison Square Garden, NYC; retains heavyweight boxing title by unanimous points decision over 15 rounds in the “Fight of the Century.”

Prep Bowling: Girls’ and Boys’ All-SEC Teams

Mt. Pleasant, IA- The Southeast Conference has released the girls’ and boys’ All-Conference teams as Keokuk swept the conference championships.

Keokuk, the Class 2A state champion, had four bowlers make the All-Conference First Team in Allison Sapp, Sophia Rule, Jaelylnn Ketterer, and Addi Spicer. Sapp led the way with a two game total of 436 as Ketterer clinched a spot in the state tournament and exited as the individual state champion.

Nattalee Alberts and Liz Clifford each earned All-Conference Second Team honors for the Chiefs.

Mt. Pleasant’s Addison McGehearty had the fifth highest conference score with 350 total points as she was the lone Panther to be named First Team All-Conference. Additionally, McGhearty was a state qualifier.

The Panthers had four bowlers earn Second Team All-Conference honors in Kya Goodrich (state qualifier), Madelynn Millard, Shyann Smith, and Bethany Drury (state qualifier).

Katleyn Ott of Burlington was the final bowler to make the All-Conference Frist Team. Ott bowled a two-game total of 343 to claim that sixth spot.

Conference standings: Keokuk (2,870), Mt. Pleasant (2,415), Burlington (2,001), Fairfield (1,524), and Washington (1,007).

On the boys’ side, Keokuk finished as the conference champion as they were led by First Team All-Conference Honoree Pray Lawson as he had the fifth highest score of the match with 409 pins.

Ashton Weilandich, Kayden Ames, and Chase Hemann each finished on the All-Conference Second Team.

Mt. Pleasant had two student-athletes make the All-Conference First Team as Alec Payne was the top bowler in the conference with a two-game total of 463 pins. Keagan Ellington grabbed the final spot on the team with 408 pins.

Titus Reno earned Second Team All-Conference honors after bowling a 381 two-game total.

Keaton Lair of Burlington finished with the second highest score in the conference meet with a two-game total of 448 pins. Ian Mason grabbed Second Team All-Conference with a score of 398.

Caleb Zieglowsky of Washington nabbed the final spot on the All-Conference First Team with the third highest score in the conference as he finished with a two-game total of 447 pins.

Final Conference Standings: Keokuk (2,869), Burlington (2,804), Mt. Pleasant (2,741), Fairfield (2,520), and Washington (2,219).

Girls’ Academic All-Conference

Hailie Brill Burlington

Paige Nixon Burlington

Hannah Wenzel Burlington

Christianna Ziegler Burlington

Katelyn Ott Burlington

Addison Harris Fairfield

Grace Forrest Fairfield

Una Carter Fairfield

Natalee Alberts Keokuk

Abigial Broadwell Keokuk

Sophia Rule Keokuk

Addison Spicer Keokuk

Bethany Drury Mt. Pleasant

Joanna Fortin Mt. Pleasant

Kya Goodrich Mt. Pleasant

Addison McGehearty Mt. Pleasant

Boys’ Academic All-Conference

Ian Mason Burlington

Carter Sage Burlington

Ace Whalen Burlington

Ethan Cass Fairfield

Dylan Adam Fairfield

Josh Mineart Fairfield

Ian Aplara Fairfield

Binh Truong Fairfield

Rylan Anderson Fairfield

Julio Akinyooye Keokuk

Keith Carter Keokuk

Alec Payne Mount Pleasant

Trevin Sulentich Washington

Prep Girls’ Basketball: All-Region Teams for Southeast Iowa

Southeast Iowa- The 2023-2024 basketball season is in the books and here’s a look at the All-District teams for our local teams.

In Class 1A Region 7, Danville’s Jaeda Molle earned a spot on the team after an amazing year for the senior. Molle helped the Bears win 19 games in a row as she averaged 13.8 points and nearly five steals per contest. She finished her career with 820 points and 356 steals.

Tatum Wolford of Wapello also made the squad as she was the lone Arrow to average double figures with 14.9 points per game and 7.9 rebounds a night.

Moving over to Region 8, Holy Trinity Catholic had two seniors make the All-Region team in Mary Kate Bendlage and Natalie Randolph. Bendlage averaged 20.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and three steals in her senior season as Randolph put up 14.8 points per night and added 2.9 steals a game.

Bendlage finished her career with 1,1342 points. The Crusaders ended the season with a 20-3 record as it was their first season picking up 20 wins in over 20 years.

For Class 3A, Mediapolis had Grace Holsteen named to the All-Region 1 team. The sophomore led the Bulldogs in scoring with 14.3 points per game and dished out 4.7 assists per game.

In Class 4A, Kendra Boatman and Makenna Altgilbers of Keokuk both earned spots on the All-Region 1 team. Boatman, a sophomore, took home Southeast Conference Player of the Year honors after averaging 18.6 points per game and 4.4 steals per game.

Altgilbers, a senior, also averaged double figures with 10.3 rebounds per game as she also snatched 2.3 steals per game.

For a full look at the All-Region rosters follow this link: All-Region Teams

Boys’ Prep Basketball: The All-Substate Roster from Southeast Iowa

Southeast Iowa- Now that the basketball season has officially concluded for all our Southeast Iowa teams, it is time to take a look at the boys’ All-Substate teams.

In Class 1A Substate 5, there were six members of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference selected to the team. WACO’s Hunter Hughes made the squad as he averaged 15.6 points per game and finished his career with 1,139 points.

Holy Trinity Catholic’s junior guard Luke Hellige earned a spot on the team after leading his team to the Substate championship game in large part due to his 23.9 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game. Hellige also became the Crusaders’ leading scorer and broke the record for most points in a game with 45.

Jackson Lanz claimed a spot for Wapello as he was a one man show for the team, averaging a double-double a night with 23.6 points and 11 rebounds.

Liam Delaney of Burlington Notre Dame had a stellar season as the Nikes almost defeated Winfield-Mt. Union in the district championship. Delaney was the leading scorer as he shot nearly 50% from the field and averaged 17.6 points a night.

Lastly, the Substate champions, Winfield-Mt. Union, had two players named to the team in standout seniors Abram Edwards and Cam Buffington. Abram Edwards collected 13 double-doubles over the course of the season as he averaged a double-double for the first time in his career. Edwards finished with 1,145 career points, 893 rebounds, and 190 career blocks.

Buffington, despite missing the first couple games of the season, led the team in scoring as he averaged over 19 points per game and finished his career with 1,634 points and 800 rebounds. The two helped lead the Wolves to their first state tournament berth since 1996.

Winfield-Mt. Union head coach Klay Edwards nabbed Coach of the Year for Substate 5. In his five seasons at the helm, Edwards has led his team to a 77-37 record as the Wolves have picked up 20-plus wins in two of the past three seasons.

For Class 2A, West Burlington’s historical run culminated in two All-Substate 4 players and a Coach of the Year honor. Mason Watkins earned a spot on the team after leading the team in scoring with 21.9 points per game as the junior tallied his 1,000-career point in the Substate championship game against Cascade.

Brady Martin also secured a spot on the team as the point guard of the state bound squad. Martin shot 45.3% from the field and finished his career with over 1,000 career points.

Lastly, Cody VanFleet was named Coach of the Year for Substate 4 after leading his squad to a 22-1 record in his fourth season at the helm. VanFleet brought West Burlington their first ever state tournament appearance.

Moving to Class 3A, Mt. Pleasant’s Payton Hagans has been named to the All-Substate team for back-to-back seasons. The senior finished his career with 1,205 points as he averaged over 20 points per game the past two seasons. After averaging 22.8 points per game and 2.3 steals per game, Hagans earned Southeast Conference Player of the Year.

Jaxon Clark of Keokuk also made the All-Substate 5 team after averaging a double-double for the season with 19.8 points and 11.5 rebounds per game.

For a full look at the 2024 All-Substate honorees follow this link: All-Substate Teams

Earl Kerr Jr

Earl L. (Leroy) Kerr, Jr., passed away on February 27, 2024, at University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, with his son, Jeffrey S. Kerr, by his side. He was born June 22, 1934, to parents Earl L. Kerr, Sr. and Alma Kerr (Anderson) in Mt. Pleasant, IA. 

Earl was preceded in death by his son, Tony Lynn Kerr, in 1960; his wife, Rita Mae Kerr (Lane), in 2009; his son, Dannie Jon Kerr, in 2019; and his dog, Heidi, in 2021. He is survived by his son, Jeff, and daughter-in-law, Lisa Kerr, of Selbyville, DE, and his granddaughter, Tamra Janell (T.J.) Chambers (Kerr) of Mountain Home, AR.

While attending Mt. Pleasant High School, Earl was a fixture in the Choir, known for his good singing voice and ability to “really cut a rug” on the dance floor. He was also a skilled boxer, winning the 1951 state championship. After graduation, Earl enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served on the front lines of the Korean War as a radio operator with the 5th Air Force’s 8th Bomber and Fighter Group. Following the war, he was stationed at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, IL. While there, he met and married his beloved Rita. They were married for 51 years.

After the Air Force, Earl worked his entire career for the Department of the Army, Logistics and Supply Command, including on the Patriot Missile Program. Earl shared his love of sports and fierce competitiveness with his sons, coaching many of their childhood teams and never missing a football, basketball, or baseball game. Earl and Rita raised their sons in St. Louis, MO, from 1967 to 1977, then in suburban Washington, DC, from 1977 to 1982, before returning to St. Louis until his retirement in 1989.

He and Rita then built their dream home in Danville, IL. They were longtime members of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, where Earl was a Eucharistic Minister and a lifetime member of the Knights of Columbus. Earl was a Mason and a Shriner, devoting several years to transporting sick children and their families to Shriner’s Hospital for care. Earl and Rita were longtime members of the Danville Boat Club, where their swing dancing skills were on display at every event. Earl was an avid golfer playing with Jeff and in his regular foursome long into retirement. Earl was devoted to Rita, caring for her throughout her cancer battles.

In 2010, Earl reconnected with his dear friend from high school, Marilyn Alter, and in 2015, he returned to live near her in Mt. Pleasant, where he was lovingly accepted into her family. Shortly after moving to Mt. Pleasant, Earl adopted his beloved dog, Heidi, who was his constant companion. Earl was a member of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church and most recently resided at Addington Place, where he was known for his smile and witty comments.

Visitation will be from 1-2 p.m. on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at St. Paul’s Catholic Church, 1303 N. Walnut St., Danville, IL 61832, followed by a funeral mass at 2 p.m. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony at Sunset Memorial Park. Arrangements were entrusted to Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center, 3940 N Vermilion St., Danville, IL, 61834. Please join us in remembering Earl’s life by posting photos, memories, and videos to his tribute wall at sunsetfuneralhome.com.

A celebration of Earl’s life will also be held from 4-5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 18, at Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 N. Main St., Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Earl’s name can be made to Disabled American Veterans, https://www.dav.org/ P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301, or St. Paul’s Catholic Church https://www.stpauldanville.org/ 1303 N. Walnut St., Danville, IL 61832.

Henry County Supervisors Meeting Agenda 03/12

Henry County Supervisors

100 E Washington St  Ste 202

Mt Pleasant IA  52641

Fax:  319-385-3601

Chad White, Member            Marc Lindeen, Vice-Chairman        Greg Moeller, Chairman

           319-385-0759                                 319-385-0760                                  319-385-0761________                       

AGENDA

March 12, 2024

Approve Agenda

Approve Minutes

9:00 Jake Hotchkiss, Engineer Weekly Update

Other County Business as time allows

Supervisors Sub-Committee Updates