James Weintraut

A Mass of Christian Burial for James J. Weintraut, 83, of Blue Grass, will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, January 3, 2020 at St. Andrew Catholic Church, 333 W. Lotte, Blue Grass. Burial will take place in Blue Grass Cemetery. The family will greet friends Thursday, January 2nd from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m. at Halligan McCabe DeVries Funeral Home in Davenport with a prayer service at 6:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Buffalo Food Pantry, P. O. Box 195, Buffalo, Iowa 52728

Jim passed away Sunday, December 29, 2019 at White Pine Senior Living in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Jim was born on November 23, 1936 in Moline, the son of Mathias and Wilhelmina (Zurcher) Weintraut.

He was a 1954 graduate of Alleman High School, and attended St. Ambrose University. Jim graduated with a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Iowa. He was united in marriage to Joanne Winner on May 6, 1967 at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, East Moline, Illinois. She preceded him in death June 14, 2018.

Jim was a civilian mechanical engineer who studied the efficacy of military advancements such as helicopter blade redesigns. In his travels, he would visit industrial plants and conduct feasibility studies of converting them into munitions production facilities for the Army in the event of war.

He was very proud of how he worked his way through college and paid for his own tuition. Afterward, he returned home to work at the Rock Island Arsenal and be the primary caregiver to his ailing parents, both of whom succumbed to cancer in the mid-1960s.

Jim enjoyed NCAA basketball, sports, watching his children play baseball, softball, volleyball and football. He never missed any games. He loved fishing, being outdoors and mowing his lawn. Jim once served as Commissioner of the Blue Grass Little League Baseball, and he volunteered at bingo nights at St. Andrew's parish.

He loved sharing details about his German ancestry, and with help from his relatives north of Frankfurt, he compiled Weintraut family records dating back to 1666. His father was among the first Weintrauts to move westward from Shelbyville, Indiana. In his nearly 37 years of working as an engineer for the U.S. Army, James traveled to all 50 states and many foreign countries, including Germany twice.

Jim is survived by his children and their spouses: Steven (Jill) Weintraut, Mendota Heights, Minnesota, Alan (Eric Brown) Weintraut, Washington, D.C., Karen (Robert) Dosch, Bismarck, North Dakota, Valerie (Bill) Marin, Springfield, Virginia; grandchildren: Kaleb, Adam, Hannah, Malia, Emily, Ian, Ava, Nathaniel, Anthony.

In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents, and siblings, Robert, Mildred, Elizabeth “Betty”, Dorothy “Dot”, Donald “Jiggy”, Judy, and Jerry.