After nearly half a century of selling factory-built homes, and according to his daughter, “a walking encyclopedia of the manufactured home industry,” Curt Hames passed away Sunday, April 30 at age 92, in Hiawatha, Iowa.
After retiring from the army in 1969, having served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, he and his wife, Norma, founded Hames Homes in 1971 in Marion, Iowa, and to date has sold over 11,000 homes. The company now owns five manufactured home communities. Daughter Barbara, company president, said he did not want to leave the business, saying “retirement is for old people.” She added, “Working kept his mind sharp, it kept him around people, and he also figured he’s got 40 years learning the business, why retire and let that go to waste.”
According to a story in The Gazette in 1998, Hames said, “There aren’t any heroes here. We’re all just ol’ workers down in the trenches, providing good people with good housing.”
He served as president and vice president of the Iowa Manufactured Housing Association, and was inducted into both the national and Iowa manufactured housing halls or fame, all while working tirelessly to improve the image of the industry.
He was also very active in the Iowa Republican Party. Party Chairman Jeff Kaufmann said Curt would hold dinners to support new lawmakers, meals Kauffman called “GOP revival meetings.” He noted, “It was like a burst of energy when you walked away from one of Curt Hames’s dinners.”
In addition to his wife of 60 years, he leaves to cherish his memory children Troy C. Hames III (Sandi) of Coralville, Barbara B. Hames (Dan Bryant) of Cedar Rapids, and Cynthia G. Hames (Charles Tomes) of North Liberty, sisters Luella Lowery of Rogers, Arkansas and Nancy Loncarich of Bella Vista Arkansas, along with numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren.
MHProNews extends its deepest sympathies to his family.
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