Under the radar connections to Iowa

[RezClone]

I was listening to Jim Gaffigan do a guest spot on a podcast. I've enjoyed his work for a long time, and I was already vaguely familiar that he's from NW Indiana when he was giving a little personal background. I was, however, pleasantly suprised to hear him say his mother was from Fort Dodge, IA.

As someone who grew up in the FD area and has been aware of him for at least 20 years or so, it was kind of cool to learn that after all this time, I suppose. And it makes me wonder... what other vague or under the radar connections to Iowa might be out there that I'm also unaware of?

It can be people, things, events etc. Anything really. Just with a particular emphasis on connections that most Iowans might not be quick to know about.

 

[SwirlyBird]

Andre the giant took a **** in Iowa once

 

[JP4CY]

The Higgins brothers are from DSM: Steve, Dave, Alan.
You'd recognize them from SNL, Fallon, Malcom in the Middle.

 

[RezClone]

Andre the giant took a **** in Iowa once

Go on...

 

[deadeyededric]

Peggy Whitson the astronaut is from Beaconsfield. She went to HS in Mt. Ayr. Harry Hopkins who wrote and directed many "New Deal" programs for FDR was a social worker from Grinnell.

 

[1UNI2ISU]

Andre the giant took a **** in Iowa once

He actually got arrested in Cedar Rapids as well...

 

[wxman1]

He actually got arrested in Cedar Rapids as well...

I was going to say he did a lot more than that. Walk from the arena to the jail and you have walked in his footsteps as he didn’t fit in a patrol car so they walked him there.

 

[wxman1]

Peggy Whitson the astronaut is from Beaconsfield. She went to HS in Mt. Ayr. Harry Hopkins who wrote and directed many "New Deal" programs for FDR was a social worker from Grinnell.

She literally just returned to space last week.

 

[baller21]

Jeffrey Dahmer lived in Frederiksen Court for 4 years.

 

[diaclone]

Stan Bahnsen of Council Bluffs was American League Rookie of the Year in 1968.

Ron Stander, “the Bluffs Butcher” fought Joe Frazier for boxing’s world heavyweight title in 1972.

 

[Nothingman]

I was raised in Iowa.

 

[Clone83]

Bill Koll, from Fort Dodge, was a 3-time undefeated NCAA wrestling champion at UNI. I think prior to that he fought at D-Day.



His was known in part for his body slam, a perfectly legitimate move at the time, which after his career the NCAA made illegal. He was also head wrestling coach at Penn State, which was good when he was there — but not the same level it is today under Cael Sanderson. Bill’s son Rob Koll has been one of the top head wrestling coaches in recent years, at Cornell (NY), and now at Stanford.

I’m not sure if ISU’s Lisa Koll, the track star, who is also from Fort Dodge, is related.

In my post linked to directly below, from May 2017, is a really good article about Bill and Rob Koll in Intermat, linked there (and that link still works):

Brody Teske

What are our chances with Teske? I've seen around that he attends C-RTC practices and was rumored to attend the Humboldt social.. He would be a big time recruiting win for our new staff. Most likely a true 125 pounder for us. Thoughts?

cyclonefanatic.com

There is also a link there to an article on Bill Koll’s induction into the Register Sports Hall of Fame. I’m not sure the Register link still works (it didn’t for me), but if not, maybe an internet search would.

 

[RezClone]

I remember John Wayne Gacy's most famous survivor, or perhaps his only survivor, was a guy in Iowa. Gacy did time in Anamosa for it, and was a model prisoner from the accounts I've heard.

 

[MLawrence]

Recently I found out the Wright brothers lived in Cedar Rapids for a time. This from their wiki page:

In 1878, when the family lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, their father brought home a toy helicopter for his two younger sons. The device was based on an invention of French aeronautical pioneer Alphonse Pénaud. Made of paper, bamboo and cork with a rubber band to twirl its rotor, it was about 1 ft (30 cm) long. Wilbur and Orville played with it until it broke, and then built their own.[24] In later years, they pointed to their experience with the toy as the spark of their interest in flying.

 

[qwerty]

I remember John Wayne Gacy's most famous survivor, or perhaps his only survivor, was a guy in Iowa. Gacy did time in Anamosa for it, and was a model prisoner from the accounts I've heard.

Gacy lived in Waterloo for 3 years and was a member of Jaycees there. He later described these years as the "best of his life". It is also where he turned to sex with underage boys, unfortunately.

 

[nfrine]

John Wayne and Buffalo Bill Cody.

 

[CyCrazy]

The guy who played the lawyer in Seinfeld is from Iowa City.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

Jeffrey Dahmer lived in Frederiksen Court for 4 years.

Is this real?

 

[Clone83]

Advice columnists and sisters Ann Landers and Dear Abby were from Sioux City.

One of the 20th century’s top spies was from Sioux City — which only became known many decades after the fact (post linked here):

Infamous Iowans

Living in Iowa can drive one to do some heinous things. I wonder if they were ISU FB fans? Most were in the era where I suspect a lot of fans were contemplating violence.

cyclonefanatic.com

Sioux City native George Koval became an infamous, world-renowned Soviet spy only after his death.

This is the Nov. 11, 2007, front page NYT article -- decades after the fact -- which announced the startling news to the world …

 

[baller21]

Is this real?

Yes when he was young and his father was attending ISU.