David William Dykstra

of Rockford, Illinois formerly of Everly, Iowa. Dr. David William Dykstra, son of Lester and Barbara Dykstra of Everly, Iowa was born March 30, 1953 in Spencer, IA and died January 11, 2007 in Rockford, Illinois. He was baptized and confirmed at St. John's Lutheran Church in May City, Iowa and attended grade school and high school at Everly Community Schools, graduating in 1971. As a youth he participated in high school football, band and chorus as well as 4-H and FFA, raising livestock projects. He was active in the church youth group at St. John's and was a volunteer camp counselor at Camp Okoboji. He worked his way through college at Iowa State University by operating a roofing and painting business, and took great pride in working hard and the quality of his work. His company vehicle, a 1957 Chevy truck that he had painted bright red, white and blue, sported a hand painted tailgate that read "I'm going as fast as I DARE!" The first of his family to attend college, he graduated with his doctorate from Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1978, thereafter practicing veterinary medicine in Iowa and Illinois. Animal welfare was a passion and he was known to treat the needs of the animal regardless of an owner's ability to pay. He traveled to area schools giving educational presentations, sponsored a Pee Wee baseball team, and spent countless hours at the Humane Society, running low-cost spaying, neutering, and vaccination clinics. He was united in marriage to Amy Armbrust of Omaha, Nebraska on August 31, 1980 at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Davenport, IA. He had a great reverence for his family heritage (his high school friends dubbed him "Dutch," a nickname which he was honored to bear) and named his two sons Adrian William Dykstra and Jacob Martin Dykstra after his grandfather, Adrian (Ed), and great-grandfather, Jake. David loved camping and fishing with his children, and was always up for a game of pinochle, five hundred, or Scrabble with family or friends. He was gifted at woodworking and cabinetry, was an avid reader and prolific writer, and enjoyed antiquing and seeking out unique collectables. He is survived by his sons, Adrian of Chicago, IL and Jacob, of Omaha, NE; his parents; his maternal grandmother Mrs. Lloyd (Frieda) Kimball of Spencer; three sisters, Vickie Dykstra of Denver, Colorado; Connie Swan and her husband, Steve, of Jackson, WY and Dickens, IA; Kay Black and her husband, Mark, of Cusick, WA; one brother, Mark Dykstra and his wife, Michelle, of Raymore, MO; two nieces Lyndsey Black of Missoula, MT; Jessica Swan George and her husband, Tim George, of Glenview, Illinois; three nephews Hunter Swan and Gannett Swan of Jackson, WY and Dickens, IA; William Dykstra of Raymore, MO; and many other relatives and friends.

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