GERALD L. HAHN, 82, of Cherokee, Iowa passed away Sunday afternoon, May 24, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in the Cherokee Villa Nursing and Rehab Center.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, May 28th, at 10:30 a.m. at the First Church of Christ in Cherokee. Pastor Larry Nilson will officiate. Burial will be in the Good Hope Cemetery, rural Cherokee. There will be military rites at the graveside by L.A. Wescott Post #2253 of the V.F.W. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at the church on Thursday. Visitation will be on Wednesday from 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. with the family present from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee. On line condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

Gerald was born March 14, 1927 at Cherokee, Iowa to Lincoln and Leora (Stewart) Hahn. He attended country school, Silver #1 and then graduated from Aurelia High School in 1945. He served in the U.S. Army and was stationed in Germany during the Korean War. Gerald was married to Donna Larson on June 7, 1953 at the First Congregational Church in Peterson, Iowa. His home was on a farm in Silver Township and he had farmed there all his life until suffering a stroke in June of 2000, which forced him to retire. He entered the Cherokee Villa Nursing & Rehab Center in 2001. He was a member of the Mt. Olive Baptist Church, where he was a deacon, moderator, and Sunday school superintendent. He belonged to the Grashoff McManus American Legion Post #390 in Aurelia, L.A. Wescott Post #2253 of the V.F.W. in Cherokee, the Toastmasters, served as a trustee of Silver Township for many years and an Aurelia Fire Department Board member. He was the Iowa State Hand Corn Picking Champion in 1999. Gerald enjoyed time spent with his family, especially the grandchildren, and visiting with friends and neighbors.

He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister and brother-in-law Florence and Clifford Bruce, sister and brother-in-law Lucille and John Cox, brother-in-law Don Peterson, an infant sister, a nephew Dennis Bruce.

He is survived by his wife Donna, one son and two daughters: Vance Hahn and his wife Nan of West Des Moines, Iowa; Darla Immele and her husband Joe of Cherokee, Iowa; Tasha Hill and her husband Patrick of Sutherland, Iowa; 5 grandchildren: Alex and Christopher Hahn, Jessica and Cassy Immele, and Tirzah Hill; one sister Charlene Peterson of Aurelia, Iowa; also several nieces and nephews.