Curtis D. Greenfield

Rock Rapids, Iowa Curtis Curtis Greenfield, age 67 of Rock Rapids, IA died Friday, October 28, 2011 at Rock Rapids Health Care Centre. Memorial service will be 2:00 PM Saturday, November 5th at the Jurrens Funeral Home of Rock Rapids. Memorials may be directed to the Lyon County Hospice or the Congregational United Church of Christ. Curt was born March 20, 1944, in Sibley, IA, to Sydney and Nora (Willemssen) Greenfield. He was raised on a farm near Ashton, IA and graduated from Sibley High School in 1962. He continued his education at Worthington Junior College for one year and then transferred to South Dakota State University, graduating in 1966 with a degree in Civil Engineering. In August 1966, Curt married LaDonna Nelson of Anthon, IA and they resided in Rock Rapids, IA were Curt was employed by DeWild, Grant, and Reckert Associates until he purchased Greenfield Oil in 1972. They welcomed three children, Cameron in 1967, Gerri in 1970, and Shelly in 1974. While in Rock Rapids, Curt was a member of the Central Lyon School Board, Jaycees, and Peace Lutheran Church. In 1980, the family moved to South Sioux City, NE where he was the county Engineer for Dakota County, NE until 1985, when they moved to Papillion, NE, where he assumed the role of county engineer for Sarpy County. Curt's wife LaDonna and their two daughters tragically passed away in December of 1986. In March 1987, Curt married Mildred Hanson in Las Vegas, NV. They moved to Creston, IA when he became the county engineer of Union County, IA in December 1987 and remained in southeast Iowa until moving to the Omaha area. After an attempt to retire, Curt took a position with FEMA in September of 2000 as a Project Officer overseeing disaster recovery in Oklahoma, the Mississippi River Valley, Iowa, Florida, and many other states. He worked a majority of the disasters to hit our county over the last 10 years. This included: the World Trade Center (Ground Zero), Hurricanes Rita, Katrina, Dennis, Charley, Ivan, and Isabel. Through his work in Florida he was certified as a beaches expert. He was very proud that a boy from the fields of Iowa became a beaches specialist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. His work was his life, for better or worse, and in 2007 his wife of 20 years, Mildred, divorced him. From then on he made his home wherever FEMA took him. Throughout his life he enjoyed time with family, woodworking, tinkering on old tractors, taking his dog "Stubby" for walks and fishing Lake Rathbun where he would participate in the Annual Lake Rathbun "Crappie-Thon". Curt became ill this past March while working the landslides in California. His son Cameron brought him back to Rock Rapids, IA for care. He stayed at the Rock Rapids Health Centre for a brief period and then lived with Cameron and his family until he was too ill to remain at home. He is survived by his son Cameron and wife Jayne of Sioux Falls, SD, their children, Amanda Siefken, Virginia Hawthorne and husband Daniel, CJ Greenfield, and great-grandchildren Tristan and Ayala; his daughter Denita Van Wyk and husband Kurt of Council Bluffs, IA, their children Dana Boswell and husband Matt, Douglas Eicher, and great-grandchildren Jordyn, Johnathan and one on the way. He is also remembered by Mildreds children Mitchell Morris, Allen Morris their families, other family and dear friends.