Mass of the Resurrection was held Wednesday, June 10, at St Joseph Catholic Church in Jefferson for Dennis LeRoy McGregor, 87, of Jefferson.
Celebrant was Msgr Kevin McCoy of Fort Dodge. Readers were Anna Pound, Allison Seibert and Tiffany Joekel. Gift bearers were Kellan and Mali McGregor. The McGregor family provided music, accompanied by Lois Last. Honorary bearers were Tim McCoy, Steve McCoy, David Redfern, John Clark, Harold Petersen, Max Hillman, Jon Tiffany, Brian Tiffany, Tom Schilling, Jerry Deluhery, and Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus.
Casket bearers were Bill Seibert, Tim Pound, Steve Dreiling, Pete Seibert, David Joekel and Dave Baugh. Interment was at St Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Jefferson with military honors by a U.S. Army honor guard.
Slininger-Rossow Funeral Home of Jefferson assisted the family.
Dennis LeRoy McGregor was born in Dana on Aug. 4, 1927. He was the only child born to Velma (Smith) McGregor and Doyle McGregor. Dennis grew up on his grandparent’s farm outside of Dana, learning appreciation for the land and the importance of family. He attended Dana schools and graduated in 1945.
Dennis gathered many friends in his journey through life, and he was very loyal to all. Some of his dearest friends were classmates from Dana. In the last year, the family has learned how important they were to him. He said they were always so good about transporting him to everything. Before they could drive, he would hop on the back of Max Hillman’s bicycle, and Max would peddle him to town and home again. As they got old enough to drive, he couldn’t afford a car, and they would take him to dances and Spring Lake. They even helped him “court” Monica Tiffany. The Dana reunions were always something he looked forward to.
He finally married Monica in 1953 after a long courtship that included his time in the Army as a radio operator stationed in Austria from 1945-1947, radio school in Omaha, and just chasing her around the state of Iowa. To this marriage, eight children were brought in to this world- Mary Ellen, Mary Edith (deceased), Sheilah, David, Bridget, Mark, Stuart (deceased) and Alex.
Needless to say, Dennis stayed busy keeping up with his growing family. He worked as a gas station attendant and shared a dairy operation when they lived on the farm 10 miles north of Jefferson. They moved to their Jefferson home, and he began farming on 80 acres there. He supplemented their income by working as an assembly worker, employment at the Co-op, and sold Farm Bureau insurance. But he found his forte when he began a 25-year career with Cal-Car Farm Service as a tank truck driver. He loved his territory and all of his customers. The kids loved the big white truck that would take them to school and pick them up at night after all their activities. There was not another like it. Everyone knew it was Denny. During his time with Cal-Car he was very proud of the trips that he won, allowing him and Monica to go to Mexico, the Bahamas, and Puerto Rico. In Denny’s later years, he tended bar and worked at Slininger-Rossow Funeral Home, meeting even more friends and tending to old.
He loved to talk about his baseball-playing days. He was very proud of his pitching career with the Dana town team. He held the county record for the most strikeouts in one game for a long time and loved to talk about that game. He was always eager to talk with his two grandchildren who were also pitchers. He wanted to make sure they had a change, a curve and a fast ball and knew when to use them. His love of baseball took him to the Jefferson Little League program. He knew he wasn’t a coach, but loved the game and wanted to be involved, so he umpired game after game after game. Many a night was spent at the fields in town. He offered quite a bit of advice to those batters, catchers and pitchers whether they wanted it or not.
His favorite “job” was being a father. The boys learned to hunt, fix a few things around the house and take care of the cars. All the McGregor kids learned how to play ball and cards, but more importantly he taught the importance of taking responsibility, loyalty to friends and family, and how to enjoy life.
Denny could sing and was musically talented, but one would have never known. He was always the consummate “roady,” making sure whenever his family was out and about doing their thing that the piano was loaded and ready, and he was available for the sound check. He was always very proud of his musical family and was busting his buttons when they performed for the community.
On June 6, 2015, Denny joined his wife Monica, daughter Mary Edith, son Stuart, and granddaughter Meghan Marie on the other side.
In addition to all of his friends he has made throughout this life journey, he will lovingly be remembered by his children: Mary Ellen, husband Bill and grandchildren Tiffany (David), Pete (Holly) and Allison; Sheilah, husband Tim and granddaughter Anna; David, wife Michelle and grandchildren Kellan and Mali; Bridget; Mark, wife Julie, grandchildren Josh (Dawn), Mellissa (Kelly), Jennifer and Michelle (Travis); and his son Alex. Denny will also be remembered by half- brother Dale (Colleen); Elaine McDowell and her children Amanda (Jay), Heather, and Neil; Spanish daughter, Elena; and all of his nieces and nephew to whom he was Uncle Denny.
