Owen B. Wilmot, 84

Former Blair resident Owen B. Wilmot, 84, died May 11, 2009, at the Israel Family Hospice House in Ames, Iowa, after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Funeral services were May 14 at North Grand Christian Church in Ames. Interment was at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Albion.

Owen B. Wilmot was born March 1, 1925, in Boone County to Everett F. and Anna P. (Goin) Wilmot. He was a graduate of Albion High School and in 1950, received his bachelor of arts in ministerial studies from Nebraska Christian College in Norfolk.

On Aug. 23, 1949, he married Dorothy Frances Case in Hamburg, Iowa.

Mr. Wilmot worked for the Union Pacific Railroad before attending Bible college and becoming a pastor. During his 40 years of fulltime ministry, he served congregations at Palmer and Bayard, Neb., Cherokee and Clarion, Iowa, Huron, S.D., and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Locally, he served as the pastor at the First Christian Church in Blair.

After retiring, he worked part-time as a chaplain at a long-term care center until he and his wife moved to Ames in 1995, where he served as a funeral assistant at Stevens Memorial Chapel. He was probably best known during his years in Ames as a greeter at Walmart, where he made many friends and won several awards for outstanding customer service.

He was a member of the North Grand Christian Church; a member of the Masonic Lodge in Clarion, Iowa; and the Kiwanis Club in Blair.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; daughter and son-in-law, Deb and Ray Anderson of Ames; three grandchildren; sisters and brother-in-law, Margie Blecher of Red Oak, Iowa, Shirley and Jim Meis of Elgin; brother and sister-in-law, Duane and Marjorie Wilmot of Yuma, Ariz.

He was preceded in death by two sons, Jay Owen Wilmot and Neal Allen Wilmot; sister, Ruby Wilmot; and twin brother, Otis A. Wilmot.