John Patrick Mcallister

John Patrick McAllister, age 81, died peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family after a brief battle with cancer. John was born in 1935 in St. Louis, Missouri, to Stella and Otis McAllister and graduated from Ritenour High School. Friendly by nature and a relentless optimist, John found his way into sales, eventually becoming district manager with C.E. Niehoff Company. He moved his family to Des Moines in 1961 to expand the company's sales territory. Later John and a business partner started their own auto parts sales consultancy Sales & Services Unlimited that they ran successfully for three decades before selling it to retire a few years ago. He loved his work, so in post-retirement he continued to do contract work for Universal Manufacturing Co. until age 81! Throughout his long career he never got tired of putting on a clean suit and hitting the road to meet new people and make new deals. In his free time John was a voracious reader on many topics including investing, medicine, technology, and politics, and loved to discuss the merits of a new mutual fund or Cadillac model over a glass of good brandy. He was well known for his warmth and generosity, always insisting on getting the bill at dinner or pitching in to make a wedding or baptism gift bigger and better. We will miss his positive attitude and boyish love of a good story and a good laugh. Throughout his life, he never missed an opportunity to spend time with his family, and especially grandchildren & great grandchildren until the day he died. And, he cherished spending time with his beloved grand-dog, Henry. Funeral Mass will be 11:00 a.m., Thursday, August 11 at St. Pius X Catholic Church, Urbandale. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 10 at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home & Crematory, Urbandale. Vigil service will immediately follow the visitation.In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to St. Pius X Catholic Church or St. Jude Children’s Hospital. John is preceded in death by his first wife, Mary Ann (Genie) and his daughter, Sheryl Ann Keenan. He is survived by his wife, Wardia; daughter, Laura (Tom) Hinkel; stepsons, George (Sawsan) and Roman Yousef; stepdaughter, Susie Tarafa; grandchildren, Aron (Simona) Butler, Andrea Danilson, Paul Kenney; step grandchildren, Sara Forman, Nicole (Shawn) Barry, Danny and Sophia Tarafa and Ian Yousef, and 12 great grandchildren.