Iven Scott Banks

Iven Scott Banks, 66, of Westfield, IA died October 18, 2023, after an extended battle with cancer. 

Iven’s life will be celebrated with a visitation Sunday, October 22, 2023, at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel, 3220 Stone Park Blvd, Sioux City, IA from 3:30 PM to 6:00 PM with a prayer service from 5:00 to 6:00. Family will be present for the duration. A funeral service will also be held at Sunnybrook Community Church, 5601 Sunnybrook Dr, Sioux City, IA at 10:30 AM on Monday, October 23. Family and friends are invited to celebrate Iven’s life following the service with a luncheon. Interment will be a private family gathering on the farm.  

Iven’s great joys in life were working the land, loving his family, and serving Jesus. Iven had a rich family heritage in farming. From a young age, Iven worked the farm with his father and his uncles. As part of a large family, Iven learned early on that life was precious. He told stories about his brothers and their fights, taking dreaded ballet with his sister, gazing up at the stars, and going to ball games. 

In 1977, Iven married the great love of his life, Karen Young, whom he met in first grade, and in his early twenties, Iven came to know Jesus as his Savior. Later, he served as a leader in Royal Rangers and a kindergarten Sunday School teacher at Morningside Assembly. Whether it was attending Mary Kay events with his wife, caring for his children and grandchildren, picking up team members for a practice, or cooking a meal for a family gathering, Iven was always showing his family, friends, and community that they were loved through his favorite love language—service.  

Iven was known to often say, “Let life make you better, not bitter.” He aged that way too. He started off as a young man with a fiery temper and grew into an older man with a soft heart. Iven embraced each obstacle set in his path and allowed it to hone him into a man of richness, kindness, and compassion. He was an easy man to love. Throughout his life, especially through his two-year battle with cancer, he trusted God with his life and his family.  

Iven’s surviving legacy includes his wife, Karen, of Westfield; three children, Desiree Shultz and her husband, Wade, of Sioux City, IA and their children Maciah, Ziva, Boden, Gili, Kitrick, and Prynne; Alexa Wolff and her husband, Matthew, of Los Angeles, CA and their children Samuel, August, and Amelia; Ian Banks and his wife, Abby, of Edina, MN and their children Beckett, Margot, and Pippa.  He is also survived by his brothers, Gary, Brad, and Jules, and his sisters, Linda Payton and Lesa Banks.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Norma Jean; brother, Ronald; and his parents, John and Annabelle Banks.