Derek Malcolm Eagles

Derek M. Eagles of Cedar Falls, Iowa, passed away suddenly Saturday, May 3, 2025, at his home. Derek was born on April 6, 1949, in New Brunswick, Canada, the second of three sons born to Malcolm and Doris Eagles. He was raised on a farm and spent a lot of time doing chores, but the family also placed an importance on academics.

Derek was a member of Air Cadets, a youth organization related to the Royal Canadian Air Force, with a focus on leadership, service, and education. He had the opportunity to study and train for his private pilot's license at the Moncton Flying Club and won the annual award given to an Air Cadet from among all the Air Cadets across Canada. Derek also showed some early inclinations in mechanics. For example, when he was a teenager, he put a gas engine on a bicycle.

In 1967, Derek started studying mechanical engineering at the University of New Brunswick but later transferred to the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, for his final two years, graduating in 1972 with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He began his career at Deere & Company in Hamilton, Ontario. Two years later the engineering department at John Deere in Dubuque, Iowa, offered him a job in engineering. In 1977, he was pleased to accept a position with the new Hydraulics Department at John Deere in Waterloo. He would later become department manager of Hydraulics as well as several other departments during his tenure at John Deere.

Derek was a member of the Waterloo Technical Society and more recently the Cedar Valley Woodworkers Association. Derek was first and foremost a man of faith, integrity, and love for his family. He was a kind, thoughtful, and generous man. Derek was involved in many different church ministries over the years. He loved to be with his children and grandchildren and he and his wife travelled from coast to coast to make that happen. When he was doing a project, whether cutting down a tree, building a bat house, setting up a pulley system, or building and using an Alaskan sawmill, he would create a video to share with his family who told him he should start his own YouTube channel. Derek also loved to read and enjoyed his book club with his grandson, Liam. He was ingenious in that he was clever, resourceful, inventive, and creative and was often modifying things to make them better or making a device to do something that didn't exist. Derek was interested in pursuing so many things—life was just not long enough to get to them all, but he did do rock-climbing, kayaking, sailing, canoeing, water and snow skiing, cross-country skiing, hiking, woodworking, gardening, and riding his Norton motorcycle.

Derek is survived by his wife, Pamela; his son, Nathan and daughter-in-law, Jessica; daughter, Alicia; and grandchildren, Liam, Greta, and Evangeline; one brother, David Eagles and wife Elizabeth of Moncton, New Brunswick; sisters-in-law, Susan (William) Prochaska, Teri (Kevin) Whalen, and Julie Jenniges; and one aunt, Helen Corey. He was preceded in death by his son, Matthew Eagles; parents; brother, Bryce Eagles; sisters-in-law, Vicki Vaughan and Jill Kamm; and brother-in-law, Dick Jenniges.

Derek will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

A visitation will be held Friday, May 9, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home in Cedar Falls and continue from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 10 at Trinity Bible Church in Cedar Falls. The funeral service will begin at 10:30 a.m. followed by a lunch. The burial will follow at Fairview Cemetery in Cedar Falls.

Your presence is all we desire. However, if you wish to remember Derek with a gift, in lieu of flowers, any gifts will be given to Samaritan's Purse or Global Christian Relief .