Included below is the complete text of the obituary, as provided by the family.
John E. “Jonathan” Lyons, 52, of Iowa City and formerly of Waterloo, Iowa died Saturday, December 14, 2019 at the University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City, Iowa.
Jonathan was born on August 31, 1967 in Waterloo, Iowa the son of John T. and Gretchen (Raab) Lyons. He graduated from Columbus High School, Waterloo, IA., and received a B.A. in English from the University of Iowa in 1997, and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from California College of the Arts in 2005. He served as an adjunct assistant professor at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA from 2005-2016, and during these years he occasionally also taught as an adjunct instructor at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA. He was a gifted teacher and always enjoyed working in the classroom with undergraduate college students. While at Bucknell University, Jonathan was also especially proud of his work with students in the Posse Scholars Program. As a creative writer, Jonathan authored the books Minnows: A Shattered Novel; The White Noise Album; and Signal To Noise, among other prose works in both long and short form.
He is survived by a son Curran McLain Lyons of Lewisburg, PA., his father John T. Lyons, Waterloo, IA., and three brothers; Shaun (Mary) Lyons, Appleton, IA., David Lyons (Lisa Rastetter) Des Moines, IA., and Dennis Lyons, Waterloo, IA., with many nieces and nephews.
A Celebration of Jonathan’s life will be held at 1 PM Saturday, January 4, 2020 on the 1st floor of the Black’s Building, 501 Sycamore St., Waterloo, IA, where the family will receive friends from 10 AM to service at 1PM. Inurnment will be held in Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waterloo, IA. The Reiff Family Center of Independence, IA, is assisting the family with arrangements.