John William Mahler

John William Mahler peacefully passed on after succumbing to cancer on February 6, 2024, with his family at his side.

John was born on November 16, 1936, in Alpha, Iowa (Fayette County), surrounded by grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. John was born in the home of his grandparents, Nina and William Richardson, and was their first grandchild. John was the son of John George Mahler and Ruvie (Richardson) Mahler. John joined his parents on his grandmother Anna Koenig Mahler’s farm near Stapleton, in Chickasaw County Iowa. John recalled walking to St. John’s church with his grandmother for the “German Service”. At 12 he tried telling his grandmother “No”, believing he could outrun her. The woman who plowed behind a team of six horses chased him down and pulled him off the side of the corn crib he was attempting to climb to safety. A race John lost. The family moved to Alpha and lived in his grandfather Richardson’s house on the Richardson farm. John started at the Alpha school in the fall of 1941. Once the war started, the family moved to San Francisco where his father worked in the shipyards. John vividly remembered the train trip across the country and the adventure of living in California...for the first time. The family returned to Iowa and settled in Waterloo where John grew up. Living on the Cedar River and in the surrounding woods, John had an idyllic childhood of building boats with their neighbor Skip. Each summer would find Skip and his crew of neighborhood boys piloting a newly built boat down the Mississippi. John was a skilled skier who raced in and won local competitions. John also played tennis and football. He graduated from West High in 1954. His senior year, John sat for the Naval ROTC Iowa State University Scholarship Test. Two scholarships for the State of Iowa were awarded annually. John received one of the two for the fall of 1954.

John set off for Iowa State University in Ames to study engineering. John was Navy ROTC and a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. John worked during the school year on campus and on State of Iowa road survey crews during the summers. John sailed with the Navy, serving on a summer Mediterranean cruise. John attended the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia the summer before his senior year. He scored at the top of his class and graduated. John saved all his surveying money to buy a TR 3 Triumph sports car in Des Moines. From skiing in downhill races to go-carts, he moved up to car racing. One of John’s fraternity brothers introduced him to Missouri’s innovation of poured concrete walls. Another fraternity brother, Phil White, introduced John to his sister, Constance Mary...Connie. Cars, Concrete, and Connie formed his future after Iowa State.

John graduated in 1959 with a degree in engineering having also completed his ROTC training and the Marine Corps Officers Candidate training. Connie and John were married in Chicago at All Saints, on June 11th, 1960. The reception was legendary. After their honeymoon in Nassau, the Bahamas, Connie, and John followed steel forms and concrete basements with Mahler Construction to Waterloo, Marshalltown, and finally Bettendorf, Iowa. They were blessed with five children: Kathleen, John Philip, Carol, Anthony, and Susan. Connie assisted at home and on the track. She had the racing clipboard and a top-of-the-line stopwatch, from Marshall Field’s, where wedding silver had been traded in for a Swiss timekeeper.

John and his brother Jim raced SCCA around the Mid-West in an 1963 Alpha Romeo 1600.. John went on to race the Formula car circuit. John qualified his car into the field during his rookie year at the Indianapolis 500. John went on to qualify for and drive in, 5 more Indianapolis 500 races. In 1970, John (with Co-Driver Jerry Thompson) drove the Owens Corning Fiberglass Corvette to the first-in-class finish at the 24 hours of Daytona. This was the first time an American car beat the European entries.

In 1985 John wed Candace Wilkinson. John and Candy’s family included Colin, William, and Kaitlin. In between races, John continued to work in construction.

John is survived by his children, Kathie, John Philip (Hannah), Carrie (Zach), Tony, Susan, Colin (Justin), William (Emily), and Kaitlin (Ryan), brothers Michael Mahler (Kristyn), and Mark Mahler (Katie), and sister, Pamela Mahler Rathe. Many grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends also survive John. John was preceded in death by Connie, his brother James, sister-in-law Bethany, and his parents.

A memorial service and graveside military rites will be held on May 4, 2024, in Alpha, Iowa.

Memorials may be made to Compassus Hospice Care, 4101 John Deere Drive, Suite 1 Moline, IL 61265.

Condolences may be expressed at mvcremation.com.