Ewing Funeral Home logo
Photo of Robert (Bob) E. Eden

Robert (Bob) E. Eden

7/30/1948 - 3/6/2014


Obituary


Robert E. (Bob) Eden, 65, of Britt, passed away Thursday, March 6, 2014, at Hancock County Health Systems.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, 2014, at First Lutheran Church, 70 Fifth Ave. NW in Britt, with Pastor Norm Bauer officiating.  Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Britt. 

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, March 11, 2014, from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at Ewing Funeral Chapel, 178 Center Str. West in Britt, and will continue one hour prior to services at the church.

Robert Earl (Bob) Eden was born July 30, 1948, in Clarion, Iowa, to Earl and Rose Mary (Nylander) Eden.  He was raised on the family farm northeast of Kanawha, graduating from Kanawha High School in 1966.  Bob proudly served his country four years in the US Marine Corps (Jan 1967 to Nov 1970), including one year in Viet Nam.

Bob married Laurine (Laurie) Bergman in Britt on September 1, 1967.  They were blessed with two sons, Allen and Brian.

After his time in the Marine Corps, the family lived in Lincoln, NE, and Whittemore, Charles City, Waterloo, and Cedar Falls while he worked in insurance and finance businesses.  In 1976, they moved to Britt, and he started Bob Eden Construction, doing farm tiling, and working with his father building farm terraces.

From 1987 to the present Bob was in the business of selling and servicing woodworking machinery through Jones Machinery Co., which he moved to Britt from Des Moines in 1989.  In 1990, he began manufacturing both wood-cutting and metal-cutting radial arm saws when he started The Original Saw Co.

Bob enjoyed a lifelong love of flying, having received his private pilot’s license at 18. He served as Mayor of Britt for 8 years in the 1980’s.  He also served as Chairman of the NIACOG and BIDCO Boards.  He was a member of the American Legion and First Lutheran Church in Britt, where he had served on the Church Council.

Bob is survived by his wife, Laurie; sons, Allen (Jenny) and their children, Delaney, Brooklynn and Jackson of Clear Lake and Brian and his daughters, Brylee and Berkley of Britt; his mother-in-law, Helen Bergman; sister-in-law, Diane (Doug) Schlei; brother-in-law, Dave (Sally) Bergman; aunt, Janis Enfield; nephews; a niece and cousins.

Preceding Bob in death were his parents; a brother in infancy, and his father-in-law, Henry Bergman.