James Luther

James “Jim” Luther went to be with the love of his life, his wife Joan, and the Lord on August 3, 2022, after a courageous battle with cancer. He was surrounded by his family who loved him greatly.

Jim was born in Waukon, Iowa, on September 25, 1934. He loved telling stories about his time in school and the shenanigans he got into with his siblings and school friends. He joined the Army in 1957 where he served in post World War 2 Germany and used his time off to visit countries in Europe such as Holland and Belgium. He met Joan and they married in 1961. There was no way she could resist his smile and his gorgeous head of black hair. As he aged his black hair became a great shade of white and he received many compliments on his great head of hair. He retired after working in sales for Kraft Foods where he excelled due to his charismatic personality.

 Jim loved to laugh and would offer a one-liner at every chance he could get. His sense of humor was passed on to his grandsons and will live on because of them. He could play a mean game of pool and would often clean up the table before the opponent got a chance to play. He loved dancing with his wife, playing golf with his buddies, a cold Miller Lite, watching his grandsons play sports and was a super fan of them all. He loved boating on the Fox River in the sunshine, cheering for the Iowa Hawkeyes, a great cheeseburger, skiing in Colorado, a tan on his skin and a lawn full of green. He loved his family and grandpups the most and had the greatest friends and neighbors a man could ask for.

 Survivors include his daughter Lori Curtis (John Madden), daughter Dawn (Paul) Ruffatti, his grandsons Tyler (Jarrod) Curtis, Kyle Curtis, Sean (Julie) Ruffatti and Jason Ruffatti (Emily “Emmy” Anderson), and his sister-in-law Frances Luther. He also has many nieces and nephews who have always been so important to him.

 He was preceded in death by his wife, Joan (Osgood) Luther, his parents Jack and Margaret (Sullivan) Luther of Waukon, Iowa, sisters Dorothy O’Riley and Mary Brandt and two brothers, Bob and John “Chuck” Luther.

 In lieu of flowers the family would like donations made tohttp://www.purpleplunge.org/ the Purple Plunge Organization in Lake Zurich, which is a local nonprofit organization that raises money to help local families going through cancer.

Services will be private for immediate family only. There will be a Celebration of Life planned in the near future.