Stuart Sparling

Stuart “Stu” Sparling, 72, a resident of Cedar Rapids, Iowa and formerly of Bettendorf, Iowa died on Monday, October 6, 2014 at the Dennis & Donna Oldorf Hospice House in Hiawatha, Iowa.

A service to celebrate his life will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, October 11, 2014 at Christ’s Family Church, 4601 Utica Ridge Rd., Davenport, Iowa.  He will be laid to rest at Davenport Memorial Park where military graveside honors will be conducted.  Visitation will be from 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. on Friday at the McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Home of Bettendorf and one hour prior to services on Saturday at the church.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bettendorf High School Athletic Program.

He was born in Davenport on September 17, 1942, the son of Stanley H. & Betty (Slocum) Sparling.  On August 3, 1963, he was united in marriage to Grace E. Stater in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Stu was inducted into the U.S. Army in 1966 and served in Viet Nam.  In 1968, he was honorably discharged as a Specialist 4 ^th Class and later became a member of the American Legion.

He founded, owned & operated Sparling Recycling in Cedar Rapids for a number of years.  In earlier years he was the Program Director at the Davenport Friendly House and was also the Superintendant of the Bettendorf Parks & Recreation Department in the late 1960’s during the time when the Middle Park and the swimming pool were established.

Stu was a 1961 graduate of Bettendorf High School where he played fullback back in the days of the single wing formation.  His position in today’s football translates to being the quarterback (he got the snap from center on every play and threw the passes).  He was the captain and was 5 ^th team all-state in 1960 and a member of the mythical state champs that never lost a game from the 7 ^th to the 12 ^th grade.  Stu went on to play at Wyoming under the legendary coach, Bob Devaney.  When Devaney left for Nebraska, Stu transferred to Northeast Missouri State.  His picture is on the Bettendorf football website with the all-state teams.

He remained an avid sports fan all of his life, especially the Bulldogs, the Hawkeyes and the Chicago Bears.  Stu devoted many hours of volunteer work especially with youth and was instrumental in forming the Bettendorf Track Club.

Those left to honor his memory include his wife, Grace; his daughters, Dawn (Jeff) McGuire of Hiawatha, Iowa and Julie (Bryan) Diemer of Chicago; his grandchildren, Peyton & Mallory McGuire and Abigail, Lauren & Ellie Diemer; his sisters, June (Bob) Fischer of Columbus, Ohio, Joy (Ron Stevenson) Sparling of Seal Beach, California and Gay (Bill) Gutknecht of Cordova, Tennessee; his brother, Steve (Lynne) Sparling of Miami, Florida; and numerous nieces, nephews and wonderful friends.

He was preceded in death by his infant son, Shawn Edward Sparling and by his parents, Betty & Stanley Sparling.