Harold Joesph Zimmerman
March 15, 1925 — October 6, 2013
Harold Joseph Zimmerman, the first born child of Ernest and Dorothy (Willmes) Zimmerman, entered this world on a snowy, stormy day on March 15, 1925 in Panama, Iowa. He was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Panama and attended grade school at St. Mary’s and the Hilltop public school and graduated from St. Mary’s High School with the Class of 1943. As a member of the high school orchestra, he played first chair trumpet. After graduation, he was a member of the adult church choir. He attended Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, while working part-time at Carpenter Paper Company.
He worked in carpentry for a couple years and then with Rosenthal Hardware where he learned the electrician trade and was employed there until the business closed. He then became a self-employed electrician, later added T.V. repair and sales.
Harold learned to work at an early age and earned money to buy a new Schwinn bicycle by building thirty dozen wooden egg crates, selling them to Harlan Produce for ten cents each. During World War II, when toys were scarce because of the steel shortage, he made wooden toys for Santa to bring to his little brother for Christmas.
He was a quiet, gentle man with a heart of gold. He developed many talents during his working life, using many of them helping his parents remodel their home and Zimmerman Store. Shortly after that he became almost incapacitated with psoriatic arthritis, which for a time, interrupted his work life.
He has an insatiable quest for knowledge, always seeking accurate and credible new information by reading informative magazines, such as Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Discovery, etc. He was a nature lover, planting dinner plate dahlias, building bird houses, raising fancy pigeons, and exotic chickens which laid colored eggs. He loved crossword puzzles, word jumble and almost anything that was a challenge. He had a good sense of humor, enjoying good jokes and the funny papers.
Harold entered the Little Flower Nursing Home in September of 2008, where he lived until his death on Sunday, October 6, 2013 having attained the age of eighty-eight years, six months, and twenty-one days. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant sister, Grace.
He is survived by his sisters: Elaine Zimmerman of Panama, Iowa, Dolores Stessman of Panama, Iowa, and Marcene and her husband Richard Twark of State College, Pennsylvania; brothers Allan Zimmerman and Don Zimmerman, both of Panama, Iowa; other family members and friends.
He worked in carpentry for a couple years and then with Rosenthal Hardware where he learned the electrician trade and was employed there until the business closed. He then became a self-employed electrician, later added T.V. repair and sales.
Harold learned to work at an early age and earned money to buy a new Schwinn bicycle by building thirty dozen wooden egg crates, selling them to Harlan Produce for ten cents each. During World War II, when toys were scarce because of the steel shortage, he made wooden toys for Santa to bring to his little brother for Christmas.
He was a quiet, gentle man with a heart of gold. He developed many talents during his working life, using many of them helping his parents remodel their home and Zimmerman Store. Shortly after that he became almost incapacitated with psoriatic arthritis, which for a time, interrupted his work life.
He has an insatiable quest for knowledge, always seeking accurate and credible new information by reading informative magazines, such as Popular Mechanics, Popular Science, Discovery, etc. He was a nature lover, planting dinner plate dahlias, building bird houses, raising fancy pigeons, and exotic chickens which laid colored eggs. He loved crossword puzzles, word jumble and almost anything that was a challenge. He had a good sense of humor, enjoying good jokes and the funny papers.
Harold entered the Little Flower Nursing Home in September of 2008, where he lived until his death on Sunday, October 6, 2013 having attained the age of eighty-eight years, six months, and twenty-one days. He was preceded in death by his parents and an infant sister, Grace.
He is survived by his sisters: Elaine Zimmerman of Panama, Iowa, Dolores Stessman of Panama, Iowa, and Marcene and her husband Richard Twark of State College, Pennsylvania; brothers Allan Zimmerman and Don Zimmerman, both of Panama, Iowa; other family members and friends.
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