Quirin, Neil L. (1934-2018)

QUIRIN, GROHE, VAN BERKUM, DUNN, VECCHIO, MARSH, BLOM, CONTRERAS

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 6/20/2018 at 19:18:54

Neil L. Quirin
February 12, 1934 - June 3, 2018

Neil L. Quirin, age 84, of Alta, Iowa, died on Sunday, June 3, 2018, at the Sunset Knoll Care & Rehab Center in Aurelia.

A son of Louis and Elda (Grohe) Quirin, Neil was born on February 12, 1934, in Schaller, Iowa. In his youth, Neil attended grade school and later graduated from Fairview High School in 1951. He, then, decided to further his education at Iowa State University (ISU) where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agronomy.

On March 21, 1953, Neil married Verna L. Heath. To their union, four children were born: Greg, Mitch, Julie, and Jill. The couple, later, divorced, and on June 7, 1979, Neil married Lavonne Van Berkum at the Milford Baptist Church.

After graduating from Iowa State, Neil began his career at Spencer Fertilizer Sales Agronomy. Then, he went to work for Swift & Co Sales and Agronomy covering Southwest Iowa and Southeast Nebraska. Next, he was hired as an Extension Agent for ISU. In time, Neil came back to Alta to farm for four years before accepting a position at the Gulf Oil Corporation out of Kansas City, Missouri. In this job, he focused on Agronomy and served customers in the central and western United States as well as in the Prairie Provinces of Canada. Next, he continued working in Kansas City, Missouri, but as a Director of the Seed Division for Farmland Industries.

In 1975, Neil returned to Alta to purchase Mellow-Dent Seeds and start PSA Seeds. In 1982, he organized Co-op Seeds with its home office in Alta. He continued with this enterprise until he sold PSA Genetics to Garst Seed in 2000. In that same year, he started cattle feed and farming while doing centralized seed production for other companies. Neil ended his long and successful career in seed production in 2013.

Besides his professional interests, Neil served on various boards such as Buena Vista Mutual Insurance, Industrial Development Storm Lake, and the Iowa Seed Association. In addition, as a member of the Good News Community Church in Okoboji, he served as an Elder and helped on the church’s building finance committee.

In his free time, Neil liked driving his John Deere tractor and church planting. In addition, he enjoyed his work and shared his experience through many speaking engagements.

Those left to cherish his memory include his wife, Lavonne Quirin; his children: Greg Quirin, of Kansas City, Missouri, Mitch (Kim) Quirin, of Storm Lake, Iowa, Julie Dunn, of Overland Park, Kansas, and Jill (Tom) Vecchio, of Littleton, Colorado; his step-children: Kevin (Sherie) Van Berkum, of Alta, Iowa, Nolan (Shelley) Van Berkum, of Milford, Iowa, and Leon (Gitta), of Kansas City, Missouri; his sister, Sheryl (Terry) Marsh, of Oceanside, California; his grandchildren: Joshua (Sandra) Quirin and Sarah (Coleman) Blom; his step-grandchildren: Jayden (Tayler), Brenden, Olivia, and Katie Van Berkum; and Morgan and Blaise Elwood; his great-grandchild, Kai Contreras; and his sister-in-law, Sally Quirin; as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, other extended family members, and friends. Neil was preceded in death by his parents, Louis and Elda Quirin; his brothers, Earlyn and Dean Quirin; his brother-in-law, Terry Marsh; and his sister-in-law, Violet Quirin.

Funeral services will be held on Thursday, June 7, 2018, at 11:00 a.m. at the Summit Evangelical Free Church of Alta. Burial will follow in the Elk Township Cemetery, Alta. Visitation will take place from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. before the service. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Alta is in charge of the arrangements.

Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Homes, Alta, Iowa, 2018.

Buena Vista Obituaries maintained by Lynn Diemer-Mathews.
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