Obituary of Cecil R. Walshire

Cecil R. Walshire, age 86 of Walden Place, Iowa City, died Monday, August 14, 2006, at Windmill Manor Care Center in Coralville. A Memorial Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, September 9, 2006, at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Iowa City with the Reverend Michael Phillips officiating. Burial will be at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Mechanicsville, Iowa. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made in his memory to Catholic Relief. Online condolences may be sent for Cecil’s family through our website @www.gayandciha.com. Cecil was born September 10, 1919 in Mechanicsville, Iowa, the son of Edward F. and Cecilia O’Malley Walshire. He graduated from Mechanicsville High School and received a degree in business from the American Institute of Commerce in Davenport, Iowa. He was working at the Rock Island Arsenal when he entered the US Army, eventually becoming a flight instructor with the rank of Lieutenant in the United States Army Air Corps during WWII. He was married to Barbara Allen on October 3, 1942 in Lafayette, Louisiana. Cecil lived in Mechanicsville and Davenport, Iowa before moving to California, where he lived in the Los Angles area for many years. Here he worked for Gulf Oil Company as a financial advisor and assistant to a vice president. He married Dorothy Gillespie Sutton, following Barbara’s death in 1975. Upon retirement he moved to Palm Desert, California. In 2004 he returned to Iowa to be near family, where he greatly enjoyed the company of his friends at Walden Place in Iowa City. His family includes his daughter, Susan Gressang and her husband, Randall of Vienna, VA; grandchildren, Jane Gressang of Coralville, IA, and John Gressang of Dunn Loring, VA; brother, Paul Walshire of Cedar Rapids, IA; and brother-in-law, Jack Ward of Tipton, IA; and a number of nieces, nephews and cousins. Cecil was preceded in death by his parents, both of his wives, his sister Mary, and his brothers John and Ted. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service of Iowa City is caring for Cecil’s family and his services.