John "Jack" R. Mahrt

John R. “Jack” Mahrt, 99, of Battle Creek, formerly of Sioux City, went home to the Lord on Friday, March 2, 2018.
Services will be 1 p.m. Thursday at the Morningside Chapel of Christy-Smith Funeral Homes (located at 1801 Morningside Ave. in Sioux City) with the Rev. Martin Mosier officiating. Burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery in Sioux City. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.christysmith.com .
Jack was born Oct. 17, 1918, to William and Genevieve (Soper) Mahrt in Burke, S.D. He was the fourth in a family of eight children. In his own words, “I have had a good life and have no regrets.” That life spanned 99+ years. It started in South Dakota, then at the age of 12, the family moved to Iowa. They settled on a farm outside of Correctionville, Iowa. He graduated from Anthon High School. After high school, he and a friend from Anthon drove combines following the wheat harvest.
In September 1939 he married Dorothy Dicks. To this union four children were born, Gerald, Douglas, Vickey and Valerie. The couple purchased a farm between Anthon and Danbury, where they farmed first with horses and then with a John Deere. At one time he worked for the county assessor and was on the school board for the schools in Miller Township. He had a career that spanned several decades with the Moorman Manufacturing Company, better known to livestock producers as MoorMan’s Feed Company. His top priority was his customers' needs. This example of customer service has been seen in all of his children. The company finally forced him to retire well after what was the standard retirement age.
He loved having coffee with friends, whether at a local cafe or later at Hy-Vee on Hamilton Boulevard in Sioux City. In 1962 he was given a choice: remodel the farm house or move to town. He moved to town.
On Jan. 20, 1979, he married Darlene Thomson at The Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. They were together 37 happy years.
His hobbies included playing golf, especially at Hidden Acres Golf Course where he was a past member of the men’s league and he had a “hole in one”; he also loved to play pool and bowl.
He is survived by his son, Douglas (Anna); daughter, Vickey (Dennis) Mills; daughter, Valerie; a daughter in-law, Dawn Mahrt; grandsons, Brent, Jason, Nathan, Jerry, Monty, Jeremy and Richard; granddaughters, Christine, Colleen, Carrie Jean, Elizabeth, Jennifer, Alice and Amanda; 29 great-grandchildren; a sister, Marge Downey; two brothers, Jim Mahrt and Don Mahrt; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by wives, Dorothy and Darlene; his son, Gerald; brothers, Paul and Clifford; and sisters, Gertrude and Louise.