Homer Dean Ewoldt

   Homer Dean Ewoldt, 86, of Spencer, Iowa, passed away at home on July 21, 2026. He was born on August 25, 1939, in Hartley, Iowa, to Sylvan Hyndman Ewoldt and Ruth Elizabeth (Boyce) Ewoldt. He was the second of four children and grew up on the family’s farmsteads in O’Brien County.

   While attending Hartley High School, Homer developed an interest in aviation and, after saving enough money for flying lessons from his part-time job at a local grocery store, he earned a private pilot’s license. He temporarily relocated to Springhill Farm in Virginia, the homestead of his uncle, U.S. Navy Capt. Leonard Ewoldt. He graduated in 1957 from Fluvanna County High School, Carysbrook, Virginia. After attending Iowa State University, Homer decided college wasn’t for him and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, serving from 1959 to 1968. As a gunner’s mate assigned to the U.S.S. Jonas Ingram (DD 938), he literally sailed around the world on goodwill cruises to many international ports of call – Trinidad, the Canary Islands, Spain, Gambia, South Africa, and Madagascar, to name a few – and later served on other ships off the coast of Southeast Asia during the conflict there. After one tour in the Navy, he bought a used Harley-Davidson motorcycle recently retired from the motor pool of the San Francisco Police Department, learned how to ride it, and went on a road trip down the Pacific Coast Highway.

   Following military service, Homer returned to Iowa and worked for Webster’s Plumbing and Heating in Spencer for many years. Through a mutual friend, he met his future wife, Mary Cheryl Myers of Ayrshire, and the two were united in marriage on May 1, 1970. He eventually transitioned from the plumbing trade to temperature control and HVAC service and repair. He was employed throughout the 1980s and ‘90s by Sioux Falls-based Brown and Even Associates, later known as Swift Air, overseeing HVAC operations for many area schools, churches, and commercial buildings throughout northwest Iowa, southwest Minnesota, and southeast South Dakota. He was known for his keen attention to detail, unmatched understanding of the mechanics of complex industrial HVAC systems, and ability to diagnose the malfunction and fix it. He always put in extra effort to ensure the job was done correctly to get the heat or the air conditioning back on, depending on the season. He retired at age 70 but quickly grew bored and took a part-time job at Menard’s in Spencer where he was proud to earn recognition as one of the store’s most reliable employees.

   Homer was a voracious reader of books and newspapers, with great interest in current events, politics, and history. Music was something he loved as well, particularly classic country singers like Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline, Hank Snow, and artists from many other genres ranging from marching bands to polka. The after-dinner hours during most Christmases were spent working on puzzles with any family member who shared his patience and diligence. He had an extensive interest in genealogy and devoted hundreds of hours during his lifetime to compiling family history and uploading his research to genealogy databases. He was also a big fan of Seinfeld and David Letterman, two television shows that regularly made him explode with laughter. After retirement, he enjoyed traveling to national parks and other destinations in the western states where his daughter resided for a time, as well as occasional flights with his son in a Cessna 172 airplane. In the neighborhood on the east side of Spencer where he raised his family, he was known in later years for taking evening strolls with a beloved pet cat, Calico, tagging along behind – just down the block to Johnson’s Grocery and back.

   Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 56 years, Mary of Spencer; son, Jeff of Des Moines; daughter, Ann of Roseville, Minnesota; brother, John of Coralville; and several nieces and nephews. Preceding his death were his parents, sister, Naomi, and brother, Bruce.