Mike Alderdyce, 81

   Mike Alderdyce, 81, of Latimer, died Tuesday, February 7, 2o23 at Grand JiVante Care Center in Ackley. Memorial services will be held at a later date. Counsell Woodley Funeral Home, Hampton is caring for Mike and his family.

     Michael Doune Alderdyce was born on December 18, 1941. His parents were Donald Doune and Elizabeth (Betty) Mildred (Van Horne) Alderdyce. The family lived in Hampton, Michigan, and settled in La Grange, Illinois, where Mike spent most of  his early childhood years. He participated in Boy Scouts, 4-H, theater, choir, and was an avid baseball and football player - his Little League team came within one game of going to the Little League World Series. The family moved to Delta, Iowa, when Mike completed eighth grade, and he graduated from Delta High School with the class of 1960.

     Mike earned a football scholarship to Upper Iowa College in Fayette, where he attended for one semester before the open road and the family business lured him away. He began driving for his grandfather’s trucking business, Van Horne/Murphy Trucking in Hampton, with most of his loads going to Michigan, Colorado, Texas, and the east coast. Mike had the greatest stories about his over-the-road adventures, and it seemed he knew almost every road in the US. During his bout with cancer, doctors and nurses were amazed because, while he might not remember their names, he could almost always remember their hometowns and knew which roads were nearby.

     Mike married Norma Jean (Boor) Bullis on October 27, 1972, and they moved to the town of Coulter in 1977. Always up for an adventure, he and Norma traveled to several areas of the US on vacations each year.

     Mike ended his over-the-road trucking career in 2007, having been with his last employer, VFS Trucking, for over twenty years. But Mike still wasn’t ready to be fully off the road, so he drove for MidAmerican Publishing for several years, delivering newspapers to towns in southeast Iowa near his hometown of Delta. Throughout his life, Mike was an avid Chicago Cubs, Chicago Bears, New York Yankees, and Iowa Hawkeyes fan. He loved country and gospel music, old western TV shows, reading about US history, and watching movies.

     Those left to cherish Mike’s memory are his daughter, Rita Bullis, Alden; daughter-in-law, Jolene Bullis, Ankeny; grandchildren Heather (Derrick) Shaull, Quentin and Mahala, Greenfield; Shawn Vanderpool, Phoenix, AZ; and Cody Bullis and Ariah, Cedar Rapids; great-grandson, Ethan Vanderpool, Cedar Rapids; sister Shirley Lahvic of Alpha, Illinois; sister-in-law Flossie Alderdyce, Anamosa; many in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends, and fellow truck drivers.

     Those welcoming him to heaven are his wife, Norma; his parents, Donald and Betty; brothers Elmer, Joel, and Louis Alderdyce; sisters Pat (Jessie) Haskell and Louise Martinez; brother-in-law Jack Lahvic; son Jim Bullis; grandson Charlie Vanderpool; and other brothers-and-sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.

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