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His Life

Obituary

February 26, 2019

Floyd Derwood Jury of Marshalltown, IA passed away on February 25, 2019 in Wilmington, DE where he resided since 2011.

Floyd was born on March 7, 1934 on a farm in Wright County, Iowa to Derwood and Edna Jury.Floyd studied Electrical Engineering at Iowa State College for two years, and went to work as a camera operator for WOI-TV studios until he enlisted in the U.S. Army.Based on his experience, the Army sent him to New York City to work in the Army Pictorial Center where he served as a video recording specialist traveling all over Eastern seaboard making training films for the Army.

After his discharge from the military, Floyd and Shirley Flint were married on October 5, 1957 in Dows, Iowa.They immediately moved to Huntsville, Alabama where they both went to work for Thiokol Chemical Company at Redstone Arsenal.Floyd was heavily involved in the testing of solid propellant rocket booster motors and was associated with the German scientist Dr. Werner Von Braun.Floyd was instrumental in helping to launch Explorer I, America’s first satellite, on January 31, 1958 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Floyd completed his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alabama. Upon graduation, Bell Laboratories hired him and sent him to North Carolina State to complete his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering.He continued to work for Bell Labs in Winston-Salem, NC and Whippany, New Jersey.In July 1965, Floyd left Bell Laboratories and went to work for Fisher Governor Company in Marshalltown, Iowa where he remained until his retirement on January 1, 2000.During his time at Fisher, Floyd became chairman of the ASME Nuclear Valve Qualification Committee and was responsible for writing and publishing the first approved code standard for nuclear control valves.Throughout his career, he published many technical writings and traveled around the world giving lectures on engineering.

After retirement, Floyd and Shirley traveled across America and Canada by car and chronicled their adventures in a weekly column for the Times Republican called “America Odyssey”. Floyd is also a published author on Kindle, having written a number of non-fiction and fiction books. In addition to writing, he also earned his private pilot’s license and was a member of the Marshalltown Flying Club.

Floyd was a dedicated, intelligent, generous and loving man who considered his family his most important treasure.He is survived by his son Michael Jury, daughter Melanie Smith and husband Todd, daughter Michelle Jury, two granddaughters Leah McMillan and Lily Jury, great-grandchild Elijah Wolfe, brother Ken Jury and wife Ilene, his sister Mary Black and husband Orville, and many other extended family members.He is preceded in death by his parents, his sister Kathleen Bohlmann, and his beloved wife Shirley.

Floyd’s body will be cremated and a private memorial ceremony will be held for family and close friends at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, where he will be buried with military honors.Condolences can be shared with the family at Forevermissed.com.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his memory to the Animal Rescue League of Marshalltown, Iowa.