Don Fear Memorial Scholarship

Don Fear graduated from Everly (Iowa) High School in 1961. He headed out to California with the intention of establishing residency so he could attend free state college. He got a job in a restaurant in hotel circle in San Diego. Due to his skills and work ethic, he quickly worked up the ranks, becoming first a sous chef, training under a French chef, and then a chef himself. Due to his excellent business and management skills, his help was utilized to streamline and improve restaurants that were not operating at their potential. He was hired to operate Jolly King restaurant at the King’s Inn in Denver, Colorado in 1969. It was a 24/7 operation with a coffee shop open during the night and day and a steakhouse in the evening. Don turned the establishment from being deeply in the red to a profitable and busy restaurant during the year he was there. He returned to Iowa to help out in the family trucking business, but never lost his love of cooking. He and his wife, Joyce, ran a restaurant at a country club for a summer, the Cattlemen’s restaurant at the Clay County fair for several years. In 1984, they purchased The Ranch in Everly. It became well-known for its lunch specials and Friday night steak fry’s. It is our hope that Don’s generous spirit and gift of hospitality, as well as his love of feeding people will live on through this gift.