Richard C. Loest

Richard C. Dick Loest was born October 18, 1938 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the son of Carl and Dorothy (Nunn) Loest. After graduating from high School and attending junior college in Calgary, Dick moved to Des Moines and attended Drake University; where he was a member of the SAE fraternity. He later married Rene Shipley on March 26, 1978 in Columbia, Missouri. He is survived by his wife, Rene of Peru; his children, Andrea Loest of Chicago, IL; Eric and Patrick Loest, both of Peru; his siblings, Katherine Smith (Bill) of Carlisle, PA; Gary Loest (Laura) of California and Janet Laird (Ted) of West Des Moines; brother-in-law, David Shipley (Luci) of Grimes; sister-in-law, Stephanie Hade (Steve) of Ft. Dodge; and eleven nieces and nephews. Dick was preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Dorothy Loest; father and mother-in-law, Lee and Marge Shipley and brother and sister-in-law, Ed and Maria Shipley. Dick worked as a real estate agent for many years and was most recently employed by Iowa Realty until retiring in January of 2008. While selling real estate, Dick also maintained and operated his farm in Madison County. Before working in real estate and farming, he owned and managed the Loest Insurance Agency in Des Moines. One of Dick’s greatest loves was restoring cars, especially old diesel Mercedes. Not only did Dick enjoy restoring cars, he also found great pleasure in renovating properties. He loved his pets especially his dogs and always enjoyed riding his horses around his property. After retiring from farming Dick continued his love of the outdoors by maintaining a garden. He always enjoyed sharing his memories and talking about growing up in Canada. As a youth, he was an accomplished badminton player and took part in many competitions around Canada. Visitation: 10:30 a.m., Monday, September 29, 2008 at Ochiltree Funeral Service & Aftercare in Winterset, Iowa. Service: Memorial contributions may be directed to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (Iowa Chapter in Des Moines 8033 University Blvd., Suite A, Des Moines, IA 50325). Memorial: 1:00 to 6:00 p.m, Sunday, where family will be present to receive friends from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. September 28, 2008 at Ochiltree Funeral Service & Aftercare in Winterset, Iowa.