John "Jack" Griffel |
Memorial services will take place Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. at St. John's United Church of Christ in rural Storm Lake, Iowa. Burial will be in the church cemetery. The Sliefert Funeral Home in Storm Lake is in charge of the arrangements. John Christian Griffel, the son of Henry and Esther (Richter) Griffel, was born in Storm Lake, Iowa on December 21, 1937. Jack lived his youth in the Storm Lake area, graduating from Albert City High School. He faithfully and honorably served his country in the United States Air Force. Jack began his life’s work as a concrete finisher in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He continued that profession in Evergreen, Colorado and also was the owner and operator of a bar in Idaho Springs, Colorado. Jack returned to New Mexico and resumed his concrete work and later moved to Denver, Colorado. He was a very gifted trapper and was involved in trapping in Montana and from the Canadian border all the way down to the Mexican border. Jack also did trapping when he resided in Bisbee, Arizona. In 1979, Jack lived in Arizona and cut firewood for his vocation. He moved to Alaska and resided there until 1998. Jack spent several years in Alaska. During his time there, he fished, hunted, and spent time in the wild and worked on the clean up of the Exxon Valdez. On September 14, 2000, Jack was united in marriage to his high school sweetheart, Sandy Atzen at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Jack and Sandy lived in Houston, Texas. Jack moved to the Albert City area following Sandy’s death in 2004. Hobbies and special interests of Jack’s included sports, hunting, fishing, gardening, and trapping. Jack’s life will be honored and cherished by his children: Jay and Jane Griffel of Kenai, Alaska; Christi and Jose Mancha of Colorado Springs, Colorado; grandchildren: Stephen Mancha; Allie Abbott; Josiah Mancha; and Stacey, Savannah, and Logan Griffel; sister and brother-in-law, Mary and Bill Lanphere of Storm Lake, Iowa; other extended family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Sandy.
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John (Jack) Griffel, age 73, of Albert City, Iowa died May 3, 2011 at his home in rural Albert City.