David L. McMahon, 96, of Luther Manor, formerly of 395 York St. Dubuque, Iowa, died March 27, 2015 at 2:15 a.m.
Services will be held on Monday, March 30 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Columbkille Church with Father Gabriel Anderson officiating. A visitation will be held from 9:00-10:15 Monday at the church. Burial will be in Mount Olivet Cemetery, Key West, where military honors will be accorded by the American Legion, Post 6. The Egelhof, Siegert, & Casper Westview Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of arrangements.
David was born on May 21, 1918, in Dubuque to Joseph and Genevieve (McGuire) McMahon. He graduated from Columbia Academy (later Loras Academy) in 1936. During his teen years and following his graduation, he and his brothers painted houses and barns to help support the family during the Great Depression.
During World War II David was drafted into the Army where he served in the Signal Corps, 1941-45. He received training at Fort Monmouth, N.J., Fort Dix, N.J., and Camp Crowder, Mo. In November 1943 he was sent overseas and was stationed in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre. Sailing from Long Beach, Calif., he was among 24 soldiers, a Navy gun crew, and some Merchant Marines, including the captain, aboard a Liberty Ship. The ship encountered a cyclone en route to India and nearly sank.
With the rank of Tech Sergeant, David was a cryptographer with the Military Intelligence Service and was in charge of the code room, first in New Delhi, India, and later in Chongqing, China. His duties included breaking down coded messages into plain text and encoding and sending coded messages. After circumnavigating the globe by ship during his tour of duty he was honorably discharged in November 1945. In October 2010 he went on Honor Flight from Dubuque to Washington, D.C., and experienced a memorable day touring the WWII Monument, Viet Nam War Memorial, as well as others.
Upon discharge from military service, he returned to work at the family business, McMahon Wallpaper & Paint Store, located at 544 Main St., until it closed in 1970 due to the city's urban renewal project. He then worked at Montgomery Ward in Kennedy Mall until his retirement in 1982.
David married Annabelle Shields on Sept. 27, 1947, at the Church of the Nativity, Dubuque; she died on Nov. 20, 2014. Together they had five children: Anne, Stephen, Sheila, Donna, and James. David and Annabelle were members of St. Columbkille Parish since 1947.
As a young man, David sang in the St. Anthony's Church choir and enjoyed ice skating and playing football, baseball and tennis, as well as other sports. He was an avid Notre Dame football fan, Chicago Cubs baseball fan, and was a league bowler for many years. He enjoyed family gatherings and loved to play euchre.
Surviving are three daughters: Anne (Richard) Hesse of Menomonee Falls, Wis., Sheila (Myron) Tranel of Platteville, Wis., and Donna (Daniel) Stehn of Peosta, and a son, Stephen of Dubuque. Also five grandchildren: Luke (Pamela) Tranel, Laura (Danny) Holt, Molly (James Cho) Stehn, Katie (Ethan Esser) Stehn, and Maggie Stehn; and six great-grandchildren: Henry, Oliver, and Rosemary Tranel; Jameson Holt, and Sylvia and Daniel Cho.
He is also survived by his sister-in-law Pearl McMahon of Orange, Calif.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 67 years Annabelle, his son James in 1995, his parents Joseph and Genevieve McMahon, his siblings Francis and Loretta, both in infancy, his sister Mary, and brothers Harold, Clarence, Robert, Maurice, and Joseph.
The family wishes to thank the staffs of Luther Manor and Hospice of Dubuque for the care they provided our Dad and Grandpa.
Online condolences may be left at www.egelhofsiegertcasper.com