Following a family vacation to California, James L. Handorf, 74, of Cedar Falls, dear husband, father, grandfather, colleague, and friend, died Tuesday morning, January 1, 2008. Jim's courageous twenty-two year battle against cancer and related illnesses has ended, and he will have a brand new 2008 in Heaven.
He was born June 17, 1933, in Dumont, son of Harold and Matie (Struthoff) Handorf. On April 4, 1963, he married Nancie Owens at Johnson Air Base near Tokyo, Japan. Jim graduated from Hansell High School in 1951 and Iowa State Teachers College (now University of Northern Iowa) in 1954.
He served in the U. S. Army from 1954-1956 in Japan, and taught at Marshalltown High School from 1956-1962. His teaching career took him back to Japan in 1962, then Germany in 1964, and to Cedar Falls in 1966 where he taught at Malcolm Price Laboratory School. He went on to earn his Ph. D. from the University of Northern Colorado and taught in the UNI College of Business until his retirement in 1990. H
e was active in many professional organizations at local, state, and national levels and received numerous awards for outstanding achievement and leadership in the field of Business Education. During retirement, Jim was an active volunteer with his church and various community groups. He was President of the Names Project of Cedar Valley, Banner Bearer for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, treasurer of the College Hill Arts Festival, and driver for Meals on Wheels. He twice received the Mayors' Volunteer Performance Award and received the Alumni Service Award from the University of Northern Iowa in 1999.
Survivors include: his wife, Nancie, of forty-four years; a daughter, Mellisa (Nick) Mattsson of Bloomington, Minnesota; two sons, Eric (Lucinda) of Santa Ana, California, and Stephen of San Francisco, California; two sisters, Doris Crandall and Avis Handorf (Bob Guthart) both of Cedar Falls; and three grandchildren, Olivia and Adrianna Maltsson and Spencer Handorf. Preceded in death by: his parents and half brother, Delmar Struthoff.
Visitation: 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Dahl-Van Hove Schoof Funeral Home, and an hour before services at Prairie Lakes Church, Cedar Falls.
Services: 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 5, at Prairie Lakes Church, Cedar Falls, with burial in Dumont Cemetery.
Memorials: UNI Scholarship Fund or Prairie Lakes Church.
Copyright Waterloo Courier, January 3, 2008, page A6.