John Charles Even Jr
December 16, 1934 - February 25, 2026

John Charles Even, Jr, age 91, of Ames died February 25th, 2026, from complications of pneumonia. Father Tom Early gave John final blessings before he passed away. John will be entombed next to his beloved Marcia in the columbarium at St. John's by the Campus Episcopal Church Ames, Iowa. A family memorial service will be held at a later date.

John Charles Even, Jr was born December 16, 1934 in Evanston north of Chicago, the son of John Charles and Beatrice Dori (Komischke) Even. He grew up in Chicago graduating from Sullivan High School in Rodger's Park, Northwestern University with a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering, and PhD in Industrial Engineering from Oklahoma State.

John married Marcia Susan Newman on September 19, 1960 in St. Petersburg, FL. The couple resided in Evanston until 1968 when they moved to Ames where John joined the Industrial Engineering Faculty at Iowa State University where he was a professor for over 30 years. John's projects centered around refuse recovery, robotic vision, queuing theory, and prep videos for students studying for their PE Professional Engineering license. He did a sabbatical for the National Center for Resource Recovery in Washington, D.C..

John was an avid tinkerer, be it rebuilding cars, collecting and fixing antique radios, building speakers, fixing and debugging his kids' cars and electrical projects, or fixing various antique finds of Marcia's, he enjoyed it all. He also enjoyed ham radio, participating in Lions Club for over 50 years volunteering for many Turkey Dinner fundraisers, Sight Testing, helping with the foreign Exchange Student programs, attending weekly coffee group at Panera with fellow colleagues and friends, and the Industrial Engineering Student club. John liked both Chicago dining out as well as the slow pace in Ames simply enjoying a soda sitting on the driveway chatting with friends and passersby.

John and Marcia have three children. John is survived by his children, Susan Johanna Even of Nijmegen, Netherlands, Heather Marcia Even (John Kevin Adler) of Chicago, John Charles Even III (Crystal Lange Even) and granddaughters, Ani Kaye Even and Luna Lee Even of Longmont, Colorado. John's favorite thing he told us was going out to dinner with Marcia and his family, and of course traveling together off the main roads with the dogs.

Memorials may be directed to: St. John's by the Campus Episcopal Church 2338 Lincoln Way Ames, Iowa 50014 or a charity of your choice.

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