Robert William Ferring
RIO VERDE/ARIZONA Robert William Ferring, resident of Rio Verde/Arizona, formerly of
Dubuque, IA, passed away on Sept 11th at the age of 89 years.
Robert, son of William and Lulu Ferring, known by all as Bob, was born June 14th 1929 in Dyersville
IA, also fondly known as the filming location of the well-known baseball movie, “Field of Dreams.”
Bob attended Xavier High School in Dyersville where he excelled at sports, most notably baseball and basketball. He took his switch hitting and lefty pitching prowess to Loras College in Dubuque, IA, and briefly considered playing professional baseball with an offer from the Chicago Cubs farm club network in 1948. He graduated from Loras with a
BA in Business in 1951.
Bob was then drafted into the Army in June of
1951 and devoted 2 years of his life supporting the
Korean conflict as an X-ray technician primarily at
Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.
Upon returning to Iowa, Bob began his work career with Interstate Finance of Dubuque for several years. During this time he fell under the spell of the beautiful and talented Mary Jane McMahon of Farley, IA. They were married at St. Joseph’s Parish in the small town of Farley, IA. on Nov 25th, 1954. And smart man that he was, they remained married until the day of his passing!
Coming from a long line of entrepreneurs, Bob eventually left his job at Interstate and embarked upon a 42 year adventure as a family run business owner. Doing much of the labor himself, he initially developed and ran a 42 unit mobile home park and sales lot just outside of Dubuque. For the next 30 years Bob continued to run this community plus several more in the tri-state area including the expansion of Table Mound II and III. In the upcoming years, sales outlets included Mason City, Waterloo, Clinton, and Hazel Green Wisconsin. He served as the president of the State Association, and won many honors within the manufactured home community which led to many fun national and international trip awards for him and his lovely wife Jane. He also broadened his business base by diverging into other arenas including furniture stores, partnerships in several restaurants, development of the Colonial Estates residential community, and a Casey’s General Store in Asbury, IA. As part of this adventure, Bob also owned and ran two UPS stores and participated in the manufactured home business in Phoenix, AZ.
As the manufactured home business tended to be seasonal, Bob was able to leave his businesses in the capable hands of his manager and perform executive duties remotely while he and Jane started their over 40 year adventure in the Phoenix area. They discovered this beautiful paradise (along with scores of their Midwestern neighbors!) in 1978 and eventually built a home as one of the original folks in the Rio Verde over 55 community in 1985. They fell in love with the Rio Verde environment and people and devoted increasingly longer yearly periods living there and eventually chose to be there full time. Bob had many friends in Rio Verde over the years and loved to good naturedly rib them on the golf course and tennis court, especially with his many wins in the lefty golf tournaments! He and his buddies also enjoyed the wonderful outdoor opportunities in the area including fishing at San Carlos Lake and in the White Mountain wilderness. For many years living the good life in Rio Verde entailed long drives from Iowa for the “winter season.” But Bob still looked forward to the wonderful summers they spent in Iowa with children and grandchildren.
The outpouring of love from friends and family, and beloved Rio Verde “expanded family” for Bob after news of his passing has truly been remarkable. Bob was known to many and loved by all. He was famous for his friendly demeanor and propensity to visit with anyone he meets. And of course the legendary Ferring humor was on display at all times. You knew that you were really “in” with Bob when he gave you a hard time….his greatest demonstration of affection. And when he was not in the company of his buddies doing his usual competition thing, he could be found in the companionship of wife Jane, the love of his life for 64 years. A true lifelong demonstration of love and commitment.
Bob will be sadly missed by his wife Jane, his children Mike(Jeni), Mark(Lea Ann), Julie(Gary), and John, his Grandchildren Matt(Jes), Nicole, Michael(Michelle), Daniel(Shannon), Sarah, Anya, Jack, Megan, and Luke, and all the many other family members and friends who will miss his always jocular and fun friendship. Bob was predeceased by his sisters Mae Lou and Jeannie.
The funeral will be held on Oct 27 at St. Dominic Catholic Mission at Rio Verde at 10 am.
Memorial donations may be made to Verde Cares, the Andre House, Esperanza, or charity of your choice.