David John Scurr
Born: July 26th, 1947
Died: November 29th, 2010
Obituary
Memorial Service only.
David John Scurr, 63, of Coralville, died at Hernando-Pasco Hospice in Inverness, Florida, on Monday, November 29, 2010. A memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 4, at Lensing Funeral Home, 605, Kirkwood Avenue in Iowa City. Following the memorial service, the family will be receiving friends and celebrating Dave's life at the Kirkwood Room in Iowa City, 515 Kirkwood Avenue (building adjacent to Lensing Funeral Home). A private graveside service will be held in Aspen Grove Cemetery in Burlington, with full military honors, at a later date. In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. Born on July 26, 1947, in Oskaloosa, Iowa, he was the son of Dr. Howard and Catherine (Sutter) Scurr. He married Sharyn Hammje on April 10, 1966, with whom he had two daughters, Shannon Oetken (Matt) of Middletown, and Samantha Cohen (Adam) of Memhis, TN. On December 8, 1984, he married Julia Ann Patterson, with whom he adopted two Pug "daughters", Molly Mae and Lucy Lou. Dave graduated from Burlington High School in 1965, and received his Master's Degree from the University of Iowa in 1974. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran, and served in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970. He retired from the State of Iowa Department of Corrections. He started his extensive career as a counselor and staff psychologist at the Anamosa Reformatory. He then became the youngest warden in the State of Iowa at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. In 1981, he became the superintendent of the Mental Health Institute and Medium Security Unit in Mt. Pleasant. He retired as Deputy Warden from the Iowa Medical Classification Center (MCC) at Oakdale. Dave enjoyed boating, music, attending Vietnam veteran reunions, and spending time with his family. Dave was preceded in death by his father, Howard. He is survived by his wife, Julie Scurr of Coralville; his mother, Catherine Scurr of Worthington, MN; one brother, Robert Scurr (Louise) of Lake Carroll, IL; two sisters, Le Lucht (Larry) of Worthington, MN, and Bonnie Smith (Jim) of Millersburg; his daughters; his grandchildren, Seth and Ava Grace Cohen, Alexia and Samuel Banks, and Graham, Alexis, and Elizabeth Oetken; and several nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews. Dave also leaves many good friends throughout the State of Iowa. Online condolences and memories may be left for the family at www.lensingfuneral.com under obituaries.