John L. Hintermeister

In the blink of an eye and with no warning at all, the world lost a husband, a father, a grandfather, a brother, a lawyer, a hunter, a boat maker, a fisherman, a pilot, a story teller. For those left behind, the world will never be quite the same.

He was born to Herschel Oliver Hintermeister and Rita St. Dennis Hintermeister and began his life on a farm. He would go on to earn his Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa in 1966 and practice law for many years, crossing paths with so many different people along that journey. He was city attorney in Muscatine alongside Evelyn Schauland as mayor.

He became a pilot with a variety of different airplanes and many an adventure did they take him on including camping on the beach of the Baja Peninsula, flying to the Bahamas and flying down the center of the Grand Canyon. He crashed his plane not once but twice and survived to tell about it! When he got that craziness out of his system, he went on to take up traveling the country in his RV with his wife and found so many more friends and adventures on that route. He built four wooden boats and not one of them sank. He was an avid outdoors man and loved to hunt when he was younger and still loved to fish. His love of water and boating was passed down and he took several chartered sailing trips together as well. More than anything he loved to tell a story, and this is his.

He is survived by his wife, Judith; his sisters, Bette Schneider and Gloria Fryer; his daughters, Dr. Melinda Hintermeister and Lisa Burwell; his son, Michael Hintermeister; his stepchildren, Todd MacSorley and Heather West; his grandsons, Seth and Sam Hintermeister and Derrick and David Bueno; and four great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister, Karen.

He was not one for fuss and has always requested no funeral service, but he wanted a gathering of people to come together and tell a story. Please join us at the Mississippi Brew on August 16 from 2-6 p.m. and share what it was like to be a friend or a family member or just someone who passed through his life.

In lieu of flowers, please make memorial donations to the Esther Bishop Scholarship Fund at the Muscatine Community College. He was active in helping her establish that fund.

One of his most frequent recitals was "don't ask how we got here. Just ask what we are going to do now." In life and now in death, believe that he would still be saying this.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of John L. Hintermeister, please visit our floral store.