Jerry “AJ” Strawn

STRAWN, JOHNSON, DAVIS, BOYD, LE, GOULD, HELGESON, DENNENY, WELLS, OLEARY, MCCOY

Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 2/4/2025 at 09:33:00

Jerry “AJ” Strawn passed peacefully early on January 26, 2025, after a hard fought battle with lung disease, surrounded by his beloved wife Diane and daughters, Amy & Jennifer. He left this world as he lived his life – on his own terms. The care he received from his medical team during his illness was second to none.

Jerry was born on July 26, 1950 in St. Charles, Iowa to Wayne “Shorty” Strawn and Sallie (Johnson) Strawn. He grew up in that small town, and attended I35 Schools where he graduated in 1968. After running track during high school, he attended Central College in Pella, Iowa for one semester. He decided that lots of reading was not in his life plan, so he left Central and ventured out to find his own way. Jerry had a way of connecting with people in any situation. He was well known for his inability to stop chatting when he found someone interesting.

He worked for American Abstract in Des Moines, and then moved to Iowa City in 1972. He met his one true love, Diane, in 1976. They were married on November 22, 1978 at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. The service was attended by Diane’s sister Barbara and Jerry’s good friend Bruce A. Harris.

During his life, Jerry had a number of different occupations. After selling the abstract company, he started working for Lawrence Brothers Automotive in the machine shop. After some time, Tom Lawrence opened Bumper to Bumper Auto Parts in West Branch, Iowa and asked Jerry to run the store. Eventually, the store was sold and Jerry began working for C&L Development in Iowa City. While his title was Office Manager, he completed any task set in front of him. Whether it was bookkeeping, moving dirt, negotiating with the city, or defending the corporation in small claims court, Jerry did it all without complaint.

Jerry lived his semi-retired life well. He loved watching cooking shows, planning food-focused trips, unscheduled road trips, and packing for beach vacations – he was ready for whatever life directed his way. After living in Iowa City for 10 years, he moved to Solon to raise his family. He resisted moving back to Iowa City for more than 35 years, but finally returned to the east side in 2016. He found living in town wasn’t terrible, and he eventually learned to enjoy it.

Anyone who knew Jerry associated one activity with him – racing. Jerry loved racing almost more than his family. Motorcycle, stock car, ARCA, Nascar, Supercross, Knoxville sprint cars, World of Outlaws, Indy car, formula one, drag racing – any type of motorized implement was his favorite thing to watch or discuss. He raced dune buggys and go-karts for a few years, but soon his focus turned to smaller versions of his favorite pastime – remote control cars.

Jerry was a founding member of the West Branch Pulling Association, joined a number of regional and national R/C associations, and helped manage a number of other local R/C clubs. Most all of his free time was devoted to building, repairing, and perfecting his R/C setup on the Red 48. Painting bodies, machining tires, calculating gear ratios, charging batteries – R/C racing was his life. He spoke regularly to his R/C friends on the phone, and worked through mechanical problems at the track. His racing buddies were incredibly helpful during his last few years – taking cars to the track, building accessible stands for him to use, and even racing his cars if he didn’t have the strength. His favorites tracks included the Bullring and StormSteel in Cedar Rapids and the I70 Raceway in Greenville, Illinois. Racing was the last activity that Jerry had to let go – and it was the hardest one.

Jerry fought hard over his last years. At the end, his heart and body were tired, and he made the choice to leave this world as he desired. His sense of humor was with him until the end. He was preceded in death by his parents, Shorty & Sallie Strawn; and his in-laws Tom & Wilma Denneny.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 46 years, Diane (Denneny) Strawn, his children Amy (Eric) Davis (West Des Moines); Jennifer (Mason) Boyd (Davenport); and two step-children Kristine (Hung) Le (Zanesville, OH); and Jeff (Jenn) Gould (Brandon, FL). His pride and joy were his seven grandchildren: Tinh (Ashely) Le (Cleveland, OH); Vinh Le (Columbus, OH); Hana Le (Philadelphia, PA); Mai Le (Philadelphia, PA); Rowan Gould (Brandon, FL); Eva & Rhett Boyd (Davenport).

His three siblings will miss him very much: Tom (Eilene) Strawn (Pleasant Hill); Kent (Cyndie) Strawn (Norwalk); and Pam (Matt) Helgeson (Altoona). His family by marriage will feel his absence: Jim (Diane) Denneny; Barbara (Joel) Wells; Mary (Patrick) O’Leary; Genelle (Guy McCoy) Denneny; Steven (Chris) Denneny; Susan Denneny; Colleen Mahoney; and Timothy Denneny. He had numerous nieces and nephews, and all were his favorite for their own special reason.

A Celebration of Life will be held in the spring, where jokes, stories and laughs can be shared.

Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
 

Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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