Wilfred “Will” Ament

Wilfred Cyril Ament of Waukon passed away Friday, August 14, 2026, after a lengthy illness. A celebration of life will be held at the Empty Nest Winery in Waukon Friday, October 16 from 4-7 p.m. A time of remembrance and sharing of memories will be held at 5 p.m.

Life Reflections as written by Will:
Wilfred (Will) Cyril Ament first saw sunshine in Eastern Iowa April 26, 1938. He was the youngest of six children, and the first one to be born in a hospital, rather than at home. He grew up on a farm in Delaware County near Hopkinton and was in charge of chicken chores until his brother graduated from high school, when he moved up in rank and was put in charge of the cows and all the milking duties. He remembered the house filled with music, card playing and laughter. Playing ball with friends, skiing, skating, playing cards, it was a very full and active life. He had fond memories from these times.
There was always steady work on the farm and hands needed to help his Mother in the picking and preparing of produce from the garden for winter storage. Most of the work, when completed, was not seen as drudgery, but rather, brought a sense of satisfaction.
Will attended St Paul’s, a small Catholic school in Worthington. He graduated from high school in 1956 and went to Loras College for two years. From this point you may get dizzy following him around the globe. He transferred to a college in Glen Ellyn, IL where he received his B.A. in philosophy. He then went to Maryknoll College in Ossining, NY where he received an M.A. in theology. He continued his studies at Scranton University in Scranton, PA where he obtained his M.A. in American Literature.
In the late 1960s he taught for four years in small private high schools and colleges located in Scranton, PA, Chesterfield, MO, and Glen Ellyn, IL.
In 1969 he went to Tanzania, Africa where he worked with a Catholic Missionary Society until 1978. While in Tanzania, he managed to camp overnight several times with the lions in the Serengeti Plains, but regretfully never found the time to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro.
He returned to the states in 1979 and moved to Decorah, where he worked in his brother’s cabinet and woodworking shop for a short period of time. In 1979 he was hired by the Iowa Department of Human Services in the Child Protective Services Division. During this time he reconstructed a log cabin and cultivated a walnut tree farm near Volney.
It was not until 1984 that Will settled more permanently in northeast Iowa. He worked for the Allamakee and Winneshiek County Assessor’s offices as Deputy and Assessor.
In 1985 he married Mary Gorzeman at the Little Brown Church. She was director of TASC, in Waukon, who had several apartments that they rented out. Will rented one of them for several years so some of Will’s “friends” thought it rather clever on his part to marry his landlady.
In 1996 Will began full time as a private Real Estate Appraiser, working in four counties in northeast Iowa. His office was in his home and any appraisal mistakes were blamed on his English Bulldog, Stogie. He retired from appraisal work in 2018 after 34 years in the profession.
Although Will did settle down in northeast Iowa, it did not mean he stayed home. He and Mary traveled to over 40 countries, always looking for a unique active adventure. They bicycled many trails in the states and rode several bike trips in Europe.
The ocean! Will and Mary both loved it very much. They were certified advanced scuba divers and both logged over a thousand dives each. For 30-plus years their home away from home was the little Dutch Island of Bonaire.
Will had a special place in his heart for the Waukon Public Library/Robey Memorial Library. He loved reading and was very proud to volunteer his organizational skills to the book sale project. A donation to a library near and dear to you would be a memorial Will would appreciate.
Will was very fond of Henry David Thoreau. Like Thoreau, Will too, went into the woods and built his cabin. What Will achieved in life is to be judged by others, but his aspirations were somewhat similar to Thoreau: “I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
The furrow Will plowed though life was not very straight nor always level,  But as it moved forward, that plow turned over excitement, friends, deep pleasures, and appreciation of the riches and depth of the world and life around us.
He will miss you and thanks you for sharing your life with him. His remains will be cremated and his ashes scattered in the Caribbean Sea near the island of Bonaire… a place he dearly loved.
Will is survived by his loving wife, Mary; his cousins; nieces and nephews; his sister-in-law; and friends.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Leo and Mary Ament; his three brothers, Donald, Leo, and Leonard; and two sisters, Grace (Kegel) and Pauline (Guise).