John William Ikerd
December 28, 1940 - July 26, 2010
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John William Ikerd
December 28, 1940 - July 26, 2010
Obituary
Ikerd, John William Bill, 69, a long time resident of Garden Grove, passed away on July 26, 2010 of heart failure. He was a devoted husband, father and grandfather, who also touched the lives of many through his work in education.
John was born in Keokuk, Iowa on December 28, 1940 to Merle and Marie Ikerd. He was born in Iowa, but grew up primarily in Illinois. In 1959 he and his mother moved to California where he met his future wife, Gretchen Specht. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1962 with a degree in Mathematics and was married that same year. After working for 2 years as a reliability engineer at Autonetics, John decided his true calling was teaching. In 1964 he started teaching mathematics for Orange Unified School District. He held many positions in the district from math teacher, principal, to superintendent. After resigning as Superintendent in 1989, he returned to the classroom to teach math for 10 more years. He retired from Orange Unified in 1999, but continued to work in education by holding various interim positions in schools districts in Cypress and Huntington Beach. He was working as a supervisor of student teachers through National University at the time of his death. He is survived by his loving wife of 48 years, Gretchen; 3 children, Jeree, Pat, and Julie; and 6 grandchildren, Jake, Max, Ben, Tate, Emma, and Laura.
Services will be held at Garden Grove United Methodist Church on Saturday, July 31st. Viewing will be at 9:30am and services begin at 10:00am. Interment will be at the El Toro Memorial Park in Lake Forest at 1:30pm.
8 responses to John William Ikerd
Elvin & Marna Hodges says:
July 30, 2010
We wish to express our condolences for your loss. Bill was a person that enjoyed life and had fun doing it. He was a good friend. He will be missed.
Elvin Hodges
Class of 1958
Colchester High School
Kim Ikerd Gerhardt says:
July 30, 2010
I had heard from mom that Bill was having some health issues but I never imagined this. He was always my favorite uncle, he always had a smile and words of encouragement when I saw him. Whenever he had the chance, he would bring up that I was the only one out of our family that hadn’t made it to California yet to visit. Now I wished I had. Sorry I can’t be there for you. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Love, Kim
Mary Ann Curtis says:
July 30, 2010
I was deeply saddened to hear of your loss. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. May your memories give you strength.
Mary Ann Curtis
Class of 1958
Colchester High School
Mary Ann Curtis says:
July 30, 2010
We are deeply saddened by your loss. We will cherish the memories of the times spent together. It is difficult to know what to say just now, except that you are thought of in sympathy and friendship.
With Deepest Sympathy
The Class of 1958
Colchester High School
Colchester, Illinois
John & Wendy Ikerd says:
July 31, 2010
So sorry to hear of Bill’s passing.He will be missed . We enjoyed visiting you guys in 99 and was so happy we got to see you at Brad and Niky’s wedding last May.Seems like yesterday.Our prayers are with you ….John & Wendy