William D. Ahrens

 Other information William D. “Bill” Ahrens of Ash Grove, Missouri formerly of Dows and Clarion, Iowa died Sat. Jan. 9th, 2021 in Springfield, Missouri.

A memorial will be held Jan. 19th, 2021 at the Gorman-Scharpf funeral home in Springfield, Missouri. A family burial at Otis Grove cemetery outside of Dows, Iowa will be held at a later date.

Bill was born in Jacksonville, Florida to Donald and Maxine (Shaffer) Ahrens on Dec. 10th, 1946.

Bill was raised in Dows, Iowa and graduated from Dows High School in 1965. He was very proud of his high school football teams’ accomplishments. He was a four year starter there and was All-Conference his junior and senior seasons.

After high school, Bill attended Luther College and Wartburg College in Iowa. He was a member on the football team for both schools.

After college, Bill enlisted in the United States Army. Enlisted from Jan., 1967 to Oct., 1969, he was stationed in Germany and Vietnam. He was very proud of his service to his country.

After leaving the Army, Bill returned to Iowa and worked for his father’s farm drainage business, Ahrens Tiling. He continued to work for his dad until 1982 when he purchased the family business. He owned this until 1998, and sold it to his sons.

On June 30th, 1971 Bill was united in marriage to Kathleen Deimerly. Together they had two sons, Robert and Clinton. After retirement, Bill and Kathy moved to Willard, Missouri and later divorced.

Bill was an avid hunter and trapper in his early years. He loved to hunt deer and snow geese. He was also active in slow pitch softball. In his later years, he enjoyed collecting a variety of things and going to swap meets.

Bill is survived by his 2 sons: Robert (Kris) Ahrens of Clarion, Iowa and Clinton (Amy) Ahrens of Dows, Iowa, 2 grandsons: Elliott of Cedar Falls, Iowa and Cael of Clarion, Iowa, and one granddaughter, Ainsley of Dows, Iowa, 3 brothers: Bart of Woodbury, Minnesota, Boyd (Louise) of Kansas City, Missouri, Bruce (Lois) of Solon, Iowa, and one sister Anne (Chuck) Beddingfield of Durham, North Carolina.

He was preceded in death by his parents and sister in law Pam Ahrens.