Pierson, Iowa – Daker C. McQueen, 82, of Pierson, Iowa passed away on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 at his home. Funeral services will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 3, 2009 at Salem Lutheran Church, rural Correctionville, Iowa. Pastor Bert Burwell A.i.M. will officiate. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery in Pierson, Iowa. Visitation will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2009 at the Johnson – Earnest Funeral Home of Kingsley. The family will be present to greet friends from 6-8 p.m. with a prayer service scheduled for 7:00 p.m. There will also be one hour of visitation at the church prior to the funeral on Saturday.
Daker Clare McQueen was born on January 30, 1927 in Pierson, Iowa, the son of Warren and Erma (Hiller) McQueen. He attended grade school in Pierson and graduated from Pierson High School in 1944. Following graduation, Daker took a position with the E.A. Karsten Implement in the parts department.
Daker was inducted into the United States Army on May 24, 1945. He served with Company C, 5th Infantry of the occupational forces in Europe at the end of WWII. Daker returned to Pierson following his Honorable Discharge on November 3, 1946, having attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. He assisted his father with the family monument business and cemetery work. Daker purchased a bottled gas and appliance business from C.A. Osborn and did plumbing in the area. Daker drove a school bus, and, from 1947 to 1951, he did custom plowing and he and his father provided the power for a threshing ring with a 15-30 McCormick-Deering tractor.
On October 15, 1949 Daker and Theresa Benedix were united in marriage at Salem Lutheran Church, rural Correctionville, Iowa. In 1954 they started a Culligan franchise in Pierson, a family business that has continued for 55 years. The bottled gas business was sold in 1955 due to the success of the Culligan dealership. They also operated a laundromat, the 3-D Speedway go-kart track, and Hillside Miniature Golf Course in Pierson. Daker and Theresa purchased McQueen Monument in 1971 after W.C. McQueen passed away. The business was later sold to their son Joel in 1989.
Daker was a member of Salem Lutheran Church. He served two terms as Mayor of Pierson from 1968 to 1972 and later on the city council. He also served for nine years on the Pierson Consolidated and Kingsley – Pierson School Boards. He was a longtime member of the Pierson Fire Department having served as Chief and was one of the first EMTs in Pierson. Daker was also a member of the Harrison F. Pedersen American Legion Post # 291 of Pierson. He took many hunting trips to the Hauber Ranch in Wyoming. Daker collected antique tractors and machinery, toy tractors, and enjoyed being a vendor and attending area toy shows.
He will be lovingly remembered by his wife Theresa of Pierson, IA; a son Joel McQueen of Pierson, IA; two daughters and their husbands Sheila and Jerry Klaschen of Pierson, IA and Sharen and David Borchers of Holstein, IA; grandchildren Trisha Davis of Sioux City, IA, Gregory Davis of Holstein, IA, John and Connie Borchers of Abilene, KS, Julie Heieck serving overseas in Afganistan and her husband John Heieck currently in the Netherlands; a brother-in-law Fred Benedix of Correctionville, IA; sisters-in-law Delores Benedix of Moville, IA and Marie Benedix of Correctionville, IA; and many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters and their husbands Miriam and Delmar Christopherson and Thelma and Max VanBuskirk; brothers-in-law Dale Benedix and Robert Benedix; and a sister-in-law Shirley Benedix.