Willard Dale McClanahan

A memorial service will be held on April 17th, 2015 at 10:00 a.m., in the Chapel at Mill Pond Retirement Community (1201 SE Mill Pond Ct., Ankeny, IA 50021). A memorial gathering will be held from 2-4:00 p.m., on April 25th, 2015 at the Ankeny Funeral Home (1510 W. First St., Ankeny, IA 50023). His remains will be buried at a later date in the Bondurant Cemetery.

Willard was the son of Thomas and Victorine (Hick) McClanahan and he was born Dec 11, 1916 on a farm one mile north of Bondurant. Later he resided on the farm three miles north of Bondurant for 60 years. He attended Bondurant School graduating in 1935 as Class President.

In his youth Willard made an excellent record in 4-H showing animals at the Polk County and Iowa State Fairs. In 1933 he won a trip to the National 4-H Club Congress in Chicago.

Willard married Betty Colleen Plummer of Altoona on October 7, 1944. To this union three daughters were born: Bonnie Sue, Nancy Jo and Sarah Jane.

Willard was engaged in farming all his working years. In those years he was a Lions Club member, a local 4-H leader, a school board member, and a member of the Bondurant Christian Church since age 12.

In 1986 Willard and Betty retired to a home in Ankeny.

He is survived by his dear wife Betty, daughter Bonnie and husband Tom Hosler of Huntington, Indiana and their three children Vicki, Daniel and Jill; daughter Nancy Miller of Ankeny; daughter Sarah and her husband Nick Valenti of Milford, Michigan and their three children, Elizabeth, Nicholas and Thomas. Willard has seven great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Louise Haines.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the Bondurant Christian Church, 304 Grant St. S, Bondurant, IA 50035.

Online condolences and thoughtful memories can be expressed on Willard’s page at www.ankenyfuneralhome.com.