Memorial
John W. (William) Roberts, 97, of Marion, Iowa, passed away on September 23, 2026, in Marion, Iowa. Services: 11:00 a.m. Friday October 2, 2026, at Creekside Bible Church in Marion. A visitation will be held on Thursday October 1, 2026, from 4-7 p.m. at Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home. Burial: Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.
John was born February 11, 1929, to Carroll Roberts and Amy Schenken Roberts of Marion, the youngest of 3 children with sisters Claire Roberts Fernow and Helen “Janette” Roberts Jacobs. He attended Springville Schools, graduating in 1947.
As a young man, John was never afraid of a hard day’s work. He worked for Allen’s Motors, traveling to Chicago to bring cars back to Iowa, and later drove a Nesbitt soda truck. During those years, he met the love of his life, Phyllis Eileen Glass.
When John was drafted into the United States Army, he and Phyllis decided there was no reason to wait. They married on October 25, 1950, before John left to serve in Korea. While he was overseas, where he served as a lineman, Phyllis gave birth to their first son, John Randal “Randy” Roberts. John returned home to Iowa to his young wife and a son he had yet to know.
After returning from Korea, John took over his father’s farm and continued a family tradition, raising corn and soybeans on the family’s Century Farm. Alongside farming, he spent 38 years driving a fuel oil truck for Linn Co-Op, serving farmers and families throughout the area. The work suited John well—not only because of his strong work ethic, but because it gave him the opportunity to know and visit with so many people in the community.
John and Phyllis went on to have three more children: Julie Roberts Botteicher (Randy) of Belleville, Pennsylvania; Mark Roberts (Joyce) of Ryan, Iowa; and Jana Roberts Veenstra (Kolby) of Chaska, Minnesota, joining their oldest son, Randy Roberts of Houston, Texas.
John experienced tremendous joy in his life, but also great loss. Phyllis passed away in 1974 at only 42 years old. Their daughter Julie later passed away in 2010 at the age of 56. Through those losses, John’s love for his family and his faith remained constants in his life.
On November 26, 1976, John married Sherrill Gaddis, beginning another chapter in his life and gaining an additional family whom he embraced as his own: Mavis Butler of Ames, Iowa; Bruce Gaddis (Karen) of Newton, Iowa, who preceded him in death; and Beth Sheetz (Jim) of Johnston, Iowa, along with their families and descendants. John and Sherrill shared 48 years of marriage before her passing in 2025.
Few things brought John more happiness than his large and growing family. He was blessed with 15 grandchildren, 7 step-grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and 15 step-great-grandchildren. He took great joy in spending time with them, watching them grow, hearing about their lives, and seeing the people they were becoming. To John, family was one of life’s greatest blessings.
John’s Christian faith was at the center of his life. After becoming a Christian, he attended Noelridge Baptist Church in Cedar Rapids. He later joined a small group of believers who came together to establish Squaw Creek Church, now known as Creekside Church in Marion. His faith was not simply somewhere he went on Sunday; it was reflected in the way he lived, served, loved his family, and treated the people around him.
Between decades of delivering fuel to neighboring farms, a lifetime rooted in the Marion area, and his devotion to his church, John seemed to know someone everywhere he went—and if he didn’t know you when the conversation started, there was a good chance he would by the time it ended.
John loved people. He loved to visit, he loved to laugh, and perhaps most of all, he loved making other people laugh. He always seemed to have a joke ready to put a smile on someone’s face. And on the rare occasion he didn’t have a joke, he could be counted on for a quick comeback.
That warmth, humor and genuine interest in others made John memorable to generations of family, friends, neighbors and members of his community.
We were extraordinarily blessed to have John in our lives for more than 97 years. His was a long life of hard work and perseverance, faith and family, laughter and love. While we will miss him terribly, we are grateful for the many years, stories, jokes and memories he leaves with us—and for a life very well lived.