Representative John Lister View All Years

JOHN LISTER

MR. SPEAKER: Your committee appointed to prepare a suitable resolution commemorating the life, character and public service of the late John Lister, begs leave to submit the following:

John Lister, pioneer resident of Grundy county, Iowa, was born on October 6, 1854, the son of James and Mary Lister, at Hanover, Illinois, and died at his home in Conrad, Iowa, on April 10, 1942.

Mr. Lister received his education in the German-English Normal College at Galena, Illinois.

Mr. Lister was married February 18, 1879, to Clara S. Edgerton of Hanover, Illinois, and they settled on a farm in Felix township, Grundy county, Iowa, where they lived for 45 years. Mr. Lister was interested in livestock and developed one of the finest Shorthorn herds in Iowa.

He served as a member of the board of supervisors of Grundy county and was chairman of the building committee when the present Grundy county court house was erected in 1890. He served his township as secretary of the school board for fourteen years and as the treasurer for twelve years.

Mr. Lister served in the House of Representatives in the Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-second and Thirty-second Extra General Assemblies of the state of Iowa. In 1902 he was a delegate from Iowa to the Farmers’ National Congress at Malcom, Georgia. At the time of his death Mr. Lister was a member of the Pioneer Law Makers of Iowa.

Mr. Lister was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church and served as trustee, steward, Sunday school superintendent and teacher of his church. He served on the board of stewards of the Upper Iowa Conference, and in 1920 was elected as a lay delegate to the General Conference.

In 1919 Mr. Lister retired from the farm and moved to Conrad, Iowa, where he devoted his time to raising flowers, specializing in gladioli. He was honored for his outstanding work with flowers with a membership in the American Gladiolus Society.

Mrs. Lister died on October 11, 1933. Three sons and two daughters survive. They are Mrs. W. L. Robinson of Hartford, Connecticut; J. W. Lister of Sheldon, Iowa; C. P. Lister of Marshalltown, Iowa; G. H. Lister of Beaman, Iowa, and Mrs. M. W. Tranbarger of Conrad, Iowa. Eleven grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren also survive.

Therefore, Be It Resolved by the Home of Representatives of the Fiftieth General Assembly, That in the passing of John Lister, the state of Iowa mourns the loss of one of its honored and distinguished citizens.

Be It Further Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be spread upon the Journal of the House as a commemoration of the life and worth of the deceased and that the Chief Clerk be directed to forward an enrolled copy to each of the children of the deceased.

J. P. BRINDLE,

C. A. BRYSON,

W. ELDON WALTER,

Committee.

Unanimously adopted,