Homer J. Eastman, 88, of Humboldt passed away October 27, 2009 at the Long Term Care Unit of the Humboldt County Memorial Hospital. Funeral services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Faith United Methodist Church in Humboldt. Visitation is from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at the Mason-Lindhart Funeral Home in Humboldt. Interment will be in Union Cemetery, Humboldt. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Humboldt County.
Mr. Eastman is survived by his children, Becky (Dick) Williams of Winterset, Dennis (Rita) Eastman of Packwood, Brian (Deanna) Eastman of Indianapolis, IN, Bruce (Denise) Eastman of Humboldt, and Barb (Mike) Smith of Winterset; 10 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; and sister, Lucille Werner of Humboldt. He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Vivian; sister, Genevieve Baldwin; brother, Robert Eastman; and grandchildren, Jamie Eastman and James Eastman.
Homer James Eastman, the son of Orville and Ella (Mattot) Eastman, was born April 24, 1921 in Humboldt County. He was raised on the family farm and graduated from Humboldt High School. Following his education, Homer farmed with his father near Bradgate. He was united in marriage to Vivian Morse on April 25, 1942. Homer and Vivian began their farming operations near Bradgate until moving to the Morse farm near Humboldt. They raised their children there and farmed together until his retirement.
In April of 2006, the couple moved to Springvale in Humboldt and in November of that year, Vivian passed away. Homer continued to make his home there until becoming a resident of the Long Term Care Unit in May of this year.
Homer was a member of the Faith United Methodist Church where he served as head usher and was a member of Methodist Men. He was a past member of the Humboldt County Welfare Board, served as a 4-H Leader and was one of the first individuals inducted into the 4-H Hall of Fame.
Homer was an active Lion’s Club member. He became “Lion Homer” in 1967 and from 1970-1971 served as Cabinet Secretary for then district Governor Elwin Hodges. He was District Governor in 1976-1977, served as youth exchange State Chairman sponsoring many foreign exchange students, and District Chairman of Lions Club Extension organizing 37 new clubs in northwest Iowa. He was the recipient of many state, district and local Lion’s Club awards including the Melvin Jones Award, the Warren Coleman Fellow, Klise Leadership Award, and the Ralph Whitten Service Award. He was the past president of the Humboldt Lions Club and held many other club offices.
For over 40 years, Homer manufactured pancake griddles that were distributed throughout the country for non-profit fund raisers and provided pancakes as fundraising projects for area non-profit organizations.