John Bruce Annear

John Bruce Annear, known to most as Bruce, age 88, of Coon Rapids passed away on Thursday, May 11, 2017 at Thomas Rest Haven in Coon Rapids. A Celebration of Bruce’s Life will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday, May 18, 2017 at the Coon Rapids United Methodist Church with Rev. Joyce Webb officiating. Visitation will be held for one hour prior to the service. Organist for the service will be Lula Garnes and Susan Moore will play guitar and sing “Jesus Is All The World To Me”, “It Is Well With My Soul”, and “Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus”. A Private Family Inurnment will be held at a later date. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Coon Rapids and online condolences may be left for the family at www.dahnandwoodhouse.com John Bruce Annear was born October 3, 1928 near Carrollton, IA in the farm home built by his parents, John and Della (Livingston) Annear. He passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 11th at Thomas Rest Haven in Coon Rapids, IA at the age of 88. Bruce was one of six children, Lucille (1906), Juanita (1910), Delos (1911), Ralph (1913), Grace (1919) and Bruce. He attended schools at Carrollton, Coon Rapids and Simpson College where he met and married Alice Helen Hansell. While at Simpson he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega National Fraternity. After marriage in 1948, Bruce and Alice owned and operated a grade A dairy farm that he grew up on. They had five boys; Joseph, John (Pat) in Englewood, CO, Tom (Lynn) in Cheyenne, WY, Mike (Tonya) in Bartlett, TN and Jim (Heidi) in Polk City, IA. In 1965, they bought several insurance agencies beginning with the Carpenter and Brannan agency in Coon Rapids. They later added several more agencies in Coon Rapids and Panora while expanding into real estate sales. During this time, Bruce was elected President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa and received the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriters (CPCU) designation in 1988. They moved to Coon Rapids in 1969 and developed the Free Methodist campgrounds into Oakshire Acres, a residential addition to the town. After selling the insurance agency, they moved to Lake Panorama in 1995, spending winters in Mesa, AZ until 2003 when they made Mesa their permanent home. The return to Coon Rapids in July of 2015 made the moves come full circle. Bruce was active with local organizations including past Master of the Masonic Lodge, President/Member of the local Rotary Club and received the Paul Harris Fellow award. He was a Trustee for Richland Township in Carroll County for 17 years, was on the Carroll County Tax Review Board and was always active in church, both in Coon Rapids and Mesa, AZ, where he taught Sunday school classes for many years. He also served several church boards including the Iowa Methodist Foundation Financial board. Among his most coveted achievements was one he joked about but was very serious to see come to pass...”I always told my daughters-in-law that I hoped to die while we were all still friends”. In addition to his children, Bruce is survived by six grandchildren and three great grandchildren; Emily (Ryan) Brandle, Brooks Avery and Jack Bruce, Denver, CO., Jared (Bridget) Annear, Anne-Marie Grace, Ankeny, IA., Ben (Mallory) Annear, Bellingham, WA., Andrew Annear, Cheyenne, WY., Alex Annear, Bartlett, TN., and Brandon Annear, Polk City, IA. He is preceded in death by his wife of 67 years Alice, parents, infant son Joseph and all his siblings.