Jode Lea Bingham

Jode Lea Bingham passed away on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. There will be a Remembrance Service held on Saturday, June 18, 2022, from 11:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Melcher-Dallas Community Center. Memorials may be made in care of Jode’s family to be designated at a later date.

Jode Lea (McCarl) Bingham, was born on July 13, 1968, in Knoxville, Iowa, to Terry and Donna (Thornton) McCarl. She moved around a lot when she was young, attending different schools. The family made their way back to Iowa in 1987.

Jode married Walter Westberry, Jr. and to this union, they were blessed with three children: Walter IV, William, and Wendi. The couple later divorced.

Jode was a hard worker. She worked for the Raceway Laundromat, Casey’s in Melcher, and most recently in the customer service area at Walmart. It was at Casey’s that Jode met Darren Bingham. He said it was her smile that drew him to her. His charm worked and the couple married September 7, 1991, at the Assembly of God Church in Melcher-Dallas, and had 31 plus years of marriage together. They completed their family of 6 with the birth of their daughter, Aleea.

Jode had a passion for wood carving and was a member of wood carving clubs called Prairie Chipper Woodcarvers in Newton and Mid Iowa Woodcarvers in Des Moines. Jode was a devout Christian, leading her to become an Ordained Minister.

Jode will be dearly missed by her husband, Darren; children: Walter Westberry IV, William Westberry, Wendi Westberry, and Aleea Bingham; grandchildren: Jonathan Roder, Benjmin Roder, Jamison Hughes, Isaac Van Gorp, and Vincent Westberry; stepmother, Sharon McCarl; siblings: Tammy McCarl (Mark Gilbert) and Billie Eilander (Clint Eilander); mother-in-law, Shirley Bingham; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends; along with her cousin by blood/sister by choice, Lisa Cooper (Paul).

She was preceded in death by her mother, Donna McCarl; father, Terry McCarl; and father-in-law, Frank Bingham.