Eldon “EJ” Gries

Eldon “EJ” Gries, 74, of Pleasant Hill, Iowa, formerly of the Kingsley area, died peacefully Saturday, Oct. 15, 2016, at Methodist Hospital.

Services were held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, October 25 at Sts. John and Paul Catholic Church in Altoona, Iowa.

Interment was in Glendale Cemetery. Arrangements were under the direction of Brooks Funeral Care/The Cremation Society of Iowa in Clive, Iowa. Online condolences can be expressed at http://iowafuneralplanning.com/obituaries/eldon-gries/.

Eldon was born at home near Kingsley and Pierson Iowa, to Ernest and Helen Gries. He graduated from Hinton Community High School (in Iowa) in 1960. He entered the US Army Reserve and served for six years.

From 1960 on, he worked for the Iowa Department of Public Safety continuously for 37 years. This included positions in the driver’s license department, in the Iowa State Highway Patrol Academy, as an Iowa State Highway Patrol trooper, and as an MCSAP officer.

He married Linda, his high school sweetheart, in 1964. Eldon and Linda welcomed into their home and hearts two daughters, Victoria and Karla, and they were faithful in providing them a foundation of loving guidance.

After retiring from the ISP, he served in the Federal Court House in Des Moines as a security officer for five years.

Eldon was an active member of Sts. John and Paul Catholic Church in Altoona, the Iowa State Police Association, and the Iowa State Troopers’ Association.  His loves were God, family, cars, golf, caring for and mowing the yard and acreage, and the CAVE coffee meetings.

Eldon is survived by his wife, Linda; daughter, Karla Gries; sister, Lorraine; and brothers Lawrence, Vernon, and Francis (Ruth).

He was preceded in death by his father, Ernest Gries; his mother, Helen (Plendl) Gries; a daughter, Victoria Gries; and brothers Kenneth and Junior Gries.

Memorial donations can be made to the John Stoddard Cancer Center in Des Moines, or Sts. John and Paul Catholic Church in Altoona.