Obituary of Ira Greenstein

Ira Bernard Greenstein, age 84 of Iowa City, died Thursday, September 19, 2024, at the Colonial Manor Care Center in Amana.

Ira Bernard Greenstein was born February 26, 1940, in Chicago, Illinois. Ira was the younger son of Abraham (“Abe” or “Al”) Greenstein and Rose Sloan Greenstein. He graduated from Mason Elementary School in 1954. By high school, Ira had become an accomplished trumpet player and played in jazz bands on Rush Street at a mere 16 years of age. Among his memories of Chicago were the following: being stopped once when he was riding his bicycle and getting mugged, swimming in Lake Michigan, helping stash a stoned piano player in a room away from kids before playing music for a school dance, and getting together with a large number of cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. for holidays. Raised in the Jewish faith, he still managed to become a huge fan of Christmas from a young age. Ira helped an uncle sell Christmas trees brought down to Chicago from Nova Scotia, and in the summers, he would “help” by shooting at rats that threatened to eat watermelons to be sold. He graduated from Sullivan High School in 1958 and from Chicago City Junior College in 1960. He knew he wanted to obtain a degree in criminology, and found himself choosing between a university in Michigan and Fresno State College (now California State University, Fresno). As he described it, “it was snowing that day” and he couldn’t take the thought of any more snow, which meant moving to Fresno. He remembered boarding the plane on a snowy day in Chicago and stepping off to a balmy, sunny day in California, and he knew he’d made the right decision.

At Fresno State, Ira played trumpet in multiple bands and served in the campus police unit, which enforced parking regulations, controlled traffic, and assisted with large campus events. By his senior year, he was a Seargent in the unit. During college, he also visited some Northern California gems, including Yosemite National Park (back when bears were encouraged to walk right up to cars driving through) and Kings Canyon National Park. Ira graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminology degree from Fresno State in 1963.

Anticipating the Vietnam War draft, Ira voluntarily enlisted in the Army for three years and chose an assignment that seemed related to his criminology degree. However, he discovered in training that the assignment was not as advertised; he had no interest in training spies and having them report back to him. Therefore, Ira quit his specific assignment and entered basic training (despite being told he would regret it). Determined to find a way to use his criminology background, he eventually gained a meeting with another military officer to discuss potential positions. As Ira was being told that no, there weren’t any current opportunities to capitalize on his background, the officer got a phone call. During the phone call, Ira took out his resumé and pushed it across the desk, and the officer started reviewing it. Upon finishing the phone call, the officer asked Ira if he knew how to do fingerprinting. Ira did, and he had himself a new assignment. Eventually working his way up from fingerprinting people entering a military base, Ira ultimately became an investigator and Military Police (MP). He served in the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division in Vietnam (Qui Nho’n). Dressed in civilian clothes to facilitate his ability to investigate crimes, he frequently found military officers saluting him out of an abundance of caution, unable to identify his rank. He described Vietnam as hot and humid, and said they’d sometimes fill up their helmets with water when they needed a drink.

Upon completion of his three years of military service, Ira returned to Northern California. He attended graduate school at Fresno State, and also learned to fly airplanes, scuba dive, and perform hypnosis. On earning his Master of Science degree in Criminology in 1973, Ira said he had worked on his thesis until his advisor said it was “C” grade work – Ira replied “you’d give this a ‘C’?”, called it done, and graduated. His older brother, Marvin Greenstein, had also moved to Northern California, and the brothers purchased and shared an airplane. Ira began work as a parole officer, living in Twain Harte and covering a large area of Northern California.

Looking for his next challenge, Ira took a job opportunity with the State of California and moved to Sacramento. He became the Chief of Investigations for the Board of Prison Terms. He also participated in Sacramento’s thriving traditional jazz scene, first as a valve trombone player and later as the trumpet player of the Riverbank Blues Band. The band would play weekly 4-hour gigs at the original Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Sacramento.

In 1985, Ira was introduced to Virginia White at a gathering at the condo association to which they both belonged. Virginia loved that he could always make her laugh. They married in 1986 and honeymooned in Japan. Ira and Virginia had their first daughter, Ann, in 1987, followed by their second daughter, Katie, in 1989.

In 1996, after 30 years of service to the State of California, Ira retired early to be a stay-at-home Dad. Ira would do the cooking, cleaning, and driving of Ann and Katie to school and activities, while Virginia continued working as a doctor for the Department of Veterans Affairs. At the age of 6, Katie came home wanting to learn to play the clarinet – Ira unequivocally said ‘no’ and stuck a trumpet in her hands (“we already have one in the closet”). Ira continued to play trumpet in several bands throughout the years, and Ira and Virginia were well-loved by the community as active parents involved in Ann and Katie’s schools. Ira was also a strong advocate for people with disabilities and participated in volunteer organizations.

In 2013, Ira moved with Virginia and Ann to Iowa City to be near Virginia’s family, while Katie was in graduate school at the University of Iowa. In 2014, Ira became an original member of the Dandelion Stompers, a band that plays 1920s and 1930s jazz. Ira secured his daughter Katie an audition with the group as well. Ira played trumpet, pocket trumpet, and valve trombone in the band with Katie on trumpet until 2022.

Ira had a gift for humor, jokes, and comedic timing. His bag of tricks included a mastery of sarcasm, deadpan delivery, patience in delivering a punchline, and puns. He was punctual to a tee, clean cut, and could command a room. His kindness, dry wit, and one-sided smirk will be remembered by all who knew him.

Ira is survived by his two daughters, Ann Greenstein, and Katie Greenstein (Edgard Verdugo); four brothers-in-law, Robert White, Richard White (Ann Schulte), Dennis White (Deb), Stephen White (Cathy); and one sister-in-law, Peg Heck. Ira is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, including his favorite niece, Michelle (Shelly) Ivanoff.

Ira was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia; parents, Abraham and Rose Greenstein, parents-in-law Robert White and Luthiera Yeggy White Conklin, brother Marvin Greenstein, brother-in-law Randall Heck, and sister-in-law Suzanne White.

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service, 2720 Muscatine Ave, Iowa City, Iowa, 52240. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, September 26, 2024, at Gay & Ciha Funeral & Cremation Service, followed by burial at St. Joseph Cemetery (Old Section). In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in Ira's memory to either St. Joseph Cemetery (Old Section) or the Eastern Iowa Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. 

Ira’s family would like to thank the staff at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Colonial Manor of Amana, and Essence of Life Hospice for their compassionate care.