Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, February 25th, at the Liscomb Church of Christ with Rev. Ralph Norman officiating. He will be laid to rest with military honors in the Liscomb Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 5-7:00 p.m. Friday at the Mitchell Family Funeral Home in Marshalltown. Memorials may be directed to the Liscomb Church of Christ or hospice. For condolences, please visit www.mitchellfh.com. Ph. 641-844-1234.

Born on July 6th, 1931, he was the son of Delbert and Olive (Ridgeway) Hilsabeck. He graduated from the Liscomb High School.

From 1951 until 1955, he served our country honorably in the United States Navy. On March 1st, 1952, during a ten-day leave, he was united in marriage to the love of his life, Janet Avon Hof, in Liscomb. They returned to his naval base in San Francisco. Following his honorable discharge, the young couple returned to Liscomb to live. They farmed the family farm his parents had and raised three children.

Gerald was proud of his community. He was active in the church, the Liscomb American Legion and the South-Hardin Rec. Center in Union. He will be fondly remembered for his smiling face greeting visitors at church and the Village Co-Op that he and Janet called home since 2009. It was a good day if it could be started with OJ’s biscuits and gravy and later in the day any type of chocolate! Music was also important to him and he loved to sing.

Left to cherish his memory are his children: Deanne (Steve) Metge, of Rolla, MO, David (Carol) Hilsabeck, of Eldora, and Tamara (Greg) Brown, of Des Moines; six grandchildren: Darik (Iva) Metge, of Warrensburg, MO, Cory (Stacy) Metge, of Monument, CO, Staci (Greg) Allan, of Cedar Rapids, Kyle Hilsabeck (Rachel Balik), of Iowa City, Nicole (Aaron) Kerr, of Des Moines, and Jared Brown, of Des Moines; five precious great-grandchildren: Olivia, Simon, Ethan and Aleah Metge and Lucas Allan; his sisters: Reba Harris, of Omaha, and Janet Stackhouse, of Marshalltown.

In death, Gerald rejoined his beloved Janet who passed away on June 10th, 2015; two half-sisters: Louise Harris and Helen Simcox and his parents.