Joseph Weisshaar

Joe Weisshaar, age 90, entered into eternal rest on December 31, 2022, after a long goodbye with Lewy body dementia. A mass of Christian burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 6, 2023 at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, 107 Howard Street in Creston, IA. Father Patrick Amedaka, Celebrant. Interment of ashes will be at a later date at Calvary Cemetery. A visitation will be held Thursday, January 5, 2023 from 4 – 7 p.m. at the Holy Spirit Church basement in Creston. Memorials may be given to Farm Aid and/or Arbor Day Foundation.

Joseph Edward Weisshaar was born in Creston, IA, on July 29, 1932, to Edna Marie (Kelley) Weisshaar and Hans Albert Weisshaar. Joe started school in a one room schoolhouse, attended St. Malachy grade school and graduated in 1950 from Creston High School. He attended St. Ambrose University on a football scholarship and then Creston Community College before serving in the U.S. Navy stationed in Japan. Upon returning, with the help of the GI Bill, Joe finished his Bachelor of Science degree in Farm Operation in 1960 from Iowa State University.

After going home to Creston to farm, Joe met Mary Jane Arbuckle of Corning, IA. The two were married on August 13, 1960. Together they had three children: Julia, Alan and Jean.

Joe’s first love was farming. He was a good steward of the land and farmed his entire work life. During the 1980s Farm Crisis he was an organizer and advocate. Joe worked tirelessly on the National Farmers’ Organization board of directors, as well as with farm advocacy groups Prairie Fire and the National and Iowa Family Farm Unity Coalitions to bring attention to the unfair agricultural and lending policies that were forcing farmers from their land. Joe and his family were interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning, the Des Moines Register, and U.S. News & World Report, featured in the book Three Farms, and met with Farm Aid music festival founder Willie Nelson backstage. Joe was a respected Agriculture Policy Committee Member for Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and Iowa Congressman Leonard Boswell. He was a staunch Democrat who loved fighting the good fight.

Joe was an avid reader who wrote many letters to the editor. He loved planting trees, rooting for the Iowa State Cyclones, and attending his family’s fine arts performances. Joe dearly loved his family and farm. His spirit will continue to be seen in each spring planting and fall harvest, in each political win for fairness, and in each of us.

Joe is survived by his wife, Mary Jane (Arbuckle) Weisshaar; daughter, Julia Weisshaar-(Bill) Mullin; son, Alan (Julie) Weisshaar; and daughter, Jean Weisshaar (Brian Zachary); grandchildren: Joseph, Benjamin and Marie Mullin; Jacob and Cecilia Zachary; sisters: Dorothy Wallace and Jane Keitges; and brothers: Tom Weisshaar and John Weisshaar. He was preceded in death by his parents; and sister, Kathryn “Kay” (Weisshaar) Hawks.