Obituaries 23 October 2017

Aloysius John (A.J., “Wishy”, Al) Diesburg dies at 93

Aloysius John (A.J., “Wishy”, Al) Diesburg died at the age of 93 on Oct. 20, 2017.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 30, 2017 at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Ionia.  Burial will follow at St. Boniface Cemetery in Ionia.
Visitation will be held at Ionia Funeral Home on Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017 from 3 to 7 p.m. with a 6:30 p.m. Scriptural Wake Service.  Visitation will continue at the church one hour prior to the service on Monday.  Online condolences for A.J.’s family may be left at www.conway-markhamfh.com.  Memorials may be directed to the family.
A.J. was born on June 21, 1924 in Ionia.  He married Gladys Mae Milligan on July 18, 1944.  The couple had eight children; Barbara (Vince) Miller of Ionia, Betty Nosbisch of Apache Junction, Ariz., Judy (Bill) Hyde-Ek of Cohasset, Minn., Diane (Victor) Ball of Lake City, Minn., Pat (Larry) Zwanziger of Nashua, Gloria (Fulton) Bjergum of Alta Vista, Joan (Dennis) Meirick of Elma, and Jim (MaryAnne) Diesburg of New Hampton, and have one foster-son, Lew (Brenda) Hill of Waterloo.
A.J. enjoyed 24 grandchildren, four foster-grandchildren, two step, grandchildren; 50 great-grandchildren; four foster great-grandchildren; nine step great-grandchildren and two step great great-grandchildren.
After A.J. and Gladys married, they farmed near Ionia while he worked at Rath Packing plant in Waterloo.  They then farmed near Clarks Grove, Minn. and then moved back to Ionia where they purchased and operated Ionia Grocery Store for several years.  Upon selling the grocery store, A.J. worked at Salsbury’s in Charles City, for over 20 years.  While working at Salsburys, he also drove school bus for New Hampton School District.  He drove a fuel truck for his brother, Eddie.  He also was the grounds keeper for St. Boniface Church and Cemetery for several years.  A.J. and Gladys enjoyed camping with the Good Sam’s Club and started wintering in Donna, TX, which they did for over 25 years.  A.J. also enjoyed dancing, especially to Buck Hollow Band, gardening, socializing with his many friends and was extremely proud of his children and grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 60 years, Gladys Mae; his special friend of 13 years, Mardell Brase; his parents, Ted and Susan Diesburg; brothers, Cletus, Ray and Ed Diesburg; sisters, Edith Adler, Meg Ernissee and Kadie Brown; sons-in-law, Jerry Hyde and Gary Nosbisch and a foster son, Paul Hill. 

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