John J. Rotter

John J. Rotter, Watkins, age 65, died Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after courageously battling a long term illness for the past 5 years. A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018 at Kloster Funeral Home in Marengo. Visitation will be from 9-11 a.m. before the service. Burial will be at a later date. A general memorial fund has been established.

John James Rotter was born Dec. 9, 1952 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the son of Milo and Jane (Svoboda) Rotter. He graduated from Amana High School in 1971. On April 22, 2009, he was united in marriage to Angela Nolte in Davenport, Iowa.

John graduated from Kirkwood Community College and Edison Community College and worked as a national account representative for Amana Appliance Corporation from 1975-1985. He served in the National Guard from 1972-1978.

He then lived and worked in advertising sales in Ft. Myers, FL, Madison, WI and Northfield, MN before returning to Iowa where he served as Advertising Manager at Marengo Publishing Corporation.

In December 2009, he and his wife, Angie, began publishing the Hometown Marketplace advertising shopper and soon expanded to include The English Valleys Star and Warrior Tribune weekly newspapers, serving the areas of Iowa, Benton and Keokuk counties.

John was passionate about his family and friends and helping his business to grow, always making sure his customers were a priority. He loved to talk about and watch baseball and politics. He was always willing to help any way he could and although his health limited him in recent years, it never limited his capacity to love and care for those around him.

He is survived by his wife Angie of Watkins; son Chad Rotter and wife Karmela of Saugatuck, Michigan; 3 grandchildren Grayson, Gabrielle and Addison; two brothers Russell Rotter and wife, Phyllis of Amana, IA and Melvin Rotter and friend, Penni Larson of Norwalk, IA. He was preceded in death by his parents.