Lyle Elden Pohlman, a natural-born leader whose life ran from Iowa farm fields to championship sales, took his first breath on May 8, 1931, in Soldier, Iowa, and his last on September 24, 2026. He was 95.
He was the son of Casper Robert Pohlman and Edith May Chedester Pohlman. At ten he was already president of his local 4-H chapter; as a teenager he served as Iowa’s delegate to the national 4-H convention. He chose pigs as his projects and filled a box with blue and purple ribbons at county and state fairs, including several grand champions.
A gifted athlete, he played baseball, ran track, and played basketball at Castana High School, graduating in 1948. At Iowa State University he majored in agriculture, ran cross country and set records that stood for years, joined Navy ROTC, and belonged to Alpha Gamma Rho. He remained a loyal Cyclone for life, holding season tickets to football and basketball and cheering from the television when he could not be in the stands.
A fraternity brother introduced him to Barbara Stayner of Colfax, Iowa. They married in 1950 and shared 73 years. Their children are Susi, Sheri, and Bob.
Lyle’s early career was in agriculture: he managed a dairy farm in Newton for Maytag, a dairy farm in Ankeny for Anderson Erickson, and a crop farm in Mingo. After a farm-equipment accident he turned to sales. As an insurance agent he was recognized within a year as one of Iowa’s top producers. Love of farming drew him to ACCO seed corn, where he rose from salesman to district manager and then area manager and was named Man of the Year. He later bought a Conklin Company franchise, again moving from salesman to district and area manager, and again winning Man of the Year. Incentive trips took the couple across the United States, including Hawaii, to the Caribbean, and to Spain-where Lyle became a bullfighter, with video to prove it.
He retired in his late seventies, lasted a few months of reading and jigsaw puzzles, then went back to work as a locator marking underground utilities. Anyone who rode with him learned every inch of Dallas County’s electrical, phone, fiber-optic, and gas lines. At 90 he retired again, adding Sudoku to books and puzzles. He was among the Waukee Library’s favorite patrons, reading 20 to 25 books a month. He looked forward to monthly meetings of the Attivo Trail 90s Club, and he delighted in his late mother’s genealogy, which showed kinship to both Presidents Harrison and ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War.
Lyle will be greatly missed by his family and many friends. He was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara; his parents; his brother Roy Pohlman; his grandson Ryan Davis; and his son Robert Pohlman.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, October 3, from 2:00 – 5:00 PM, at Coburn Funeral Home in Colfax, Iowa. A graveside service will take place on Sunday, October 4, at 1:00 PM at Jordan Township Cemetery in rural Castana, Iowa. Memorials in Lyle’s memory may be directed to St. Croix Hospice.
