Dr. William Henry Haberstroh, PhD., age 86, of Denver, Colorado, formerly of Lytton, Iowa, passed away on Saturday, June 21, 2008, at the Aspen Siesta Nursing Home in Denver.

Funeral services will be held at 4:00 p.m., Saturday, June 28th, at the Presbyterian Church in Lytton with Pastor Wayne Pfannkuch officiating. Burial will be at the Cedar Cemetery under the direction of the Farber & Otteman Funeral Home.

Visitation is from 6:00-8:00 p.m., Friday, June 27th at the funeral home in Sac City.

William Henry Haberstroh, born July 29, 1921 to parents, Edward and Carolina (Schell) Haberstroh of Germantown, Minnesota. William was the 8th of 11 children and is survived by two sisters, Carolina (Lena) Haberstroh and Helen (Mickey) Juntunen. William and his beloved late wife, Colleen Ellen (Brobeil) Haberstroh leave their four daughters, Holly Haberstroh Ioset, Laurel Ellen Haberstroh, Julie Elizabeth Haberstroh and Lisa Haberstroh McCue. William also is survived by grandchildren: Allison Haberstroh Hall, Heather Cahill Ioset, Caroline Haberstroh Hall, Christopher Campbell Ioset, Andrew James Haberstroh Flynn, Olivia Haberstroh Hall, Lauren Elizabeth Haberstroh McDonald, Elle Kathryn McCue and great grandson, Orion Hall Sandler.

The Haberstroh family moved to Hansboro, North Dakota when William (Bill) was very young, and farmed wheat and livestock. Bill loved to share memories of his boyhood life on the farm in North Dakota- as the “cowboy” Bill went out to the far fields, alone all day tending the cattle, riding bareback on the farm horse. On Saturday nights, the family listened to radio and it was Bill’s job to charge the battery.

Bill graduated from Hansboro High School, ND in 1939, then attended Jamestown College, ND on scholarship, there majored in chemistry. At Jamestown, Bill took flying training through his physics class and loved it, so enlisted in the Army Air Corps in early 1943. He trained as a navigator/bombardier, and flew missions in the Pacific theatre. Bill also told great stories about his leave time in Hawaii and Australia- including brushes with jelly fish and native beverages! Bill was in Japan right after the end of the war, observed the devastation there, and was discharged after several months in Japan and in Okinawa.

Back in civilian life, Bill entered graduate studies in Chemical Engineering at the University of Iowa. There he met Colleen Ellen Brobeil where she was a medical student, and they were married on June 25th, 1948. Bill once described his doctoral research and thesis as the most difficult challenge of his life, and he was proud of the PhD Degree he earned. The first job in his field was with American Cyanamid in New Jersey. By that time, both Holly and Laurie were born. In 1954, the family moved to Midland, Michigan to a position with the Dow Chemical Company where Bill spent the rest of his career. Midland was home for the Haberstroh family, with Julie and Lisa born there, all girls completed high school in Midland.

After rotating through a range of responsibilities with Dow (including the Saran plant where he was trouble shooter on production of consistent quality wrap- and where he brought home a huge roll of off- spec Saran that lasted the family 20 years!) Dr. Haberstroh then rose to Director of Research for Agricultural Chemical Department. For Dow Chemical, Bill traveled extensively, opening chemical plants and problem solving in Brazil, Malaysia, New Zealand, England, India, Iran, and Canada among others. He loved the travel and many times was accompanied by his wife, Colleen…however, Bill did note that he missed American football when abroad-( And got very tired of eating mutton in New Zealand)!

Bill and Colleen retired to Lytton, Iowa in 1986, remodeled the Brobeil family farmhouse just outside of town, and spent 22 happy years in Iowa and traveling: both travel to see the next generation developing from San Diego to Syracuse New York…and traveling for their pleasure, world wide. Bill was active in Lytton volunteering, including American Legion, the Lytton Presbyterian Church, Library Historical Society, Masons, and of course Gala Days and the Centennial Celebration. “Papoo” as Bill was known to the grandchildren, had such golden years in Iowa, golfing, vegetable gardening, and oversight of the family farm business working in conjunction with the Hecht family. What a blessing that Bill had such a long and most productive life, these memories will last forever, even as his family misses his warmth, intellect and patient love immensely.