A pioneer of teaching international students and courses at Iowa State died Tuesday.

John Francis Timmons died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 86. Timmons, distinguished professor of economics, taught at ISU from 1947 to 1983.

Services will be held Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Cecilia Catholic Church, 2900 Hoover Ave.

Timmons came to ISU as a “full professor” in 1947. He previously had taught at the University of Wisconsin and served as an economist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

During his tenure at ISU, Timmons served as major adviser to more than 100 students and was involved in numerous agrarian projects overseas, including countries such as Peru, Nepal, Brazil and Mexico.

Timmons married Dorothy Langdon in 1939, and they had eight children and 13 grandchildren. His eldest son, John L. Timmons, has a private law practice in Ames.

Timmons said his father had a genuine enthusiasm for teaching.

“He loved teaching and doing research with his graduate students,” he said. “He had such a connection with the students, they were practically members of the family — American students as well as foreign students.

“Mom’s Christmas list, I don’t know how long it is, but it’s from all over the world,” he said.

Timmons said his father was offered other jobs during his tenure at ISU, but he loved the university and teaching.

“Dad wasn’t an empire builder … he wasn’t interested in that,” he said. “He loved working with undergraduate and graduate students.”

Timmons actually got an inside look into his father’s teaching style when, as an undergraduate in economics, he took a class from his father.

“He was a hard grader,” Timmons joked.

John Miranowski, chairman of the economics department, was a student of Timmons’ in 1965. Miranowski said Timmons was an excellent professor.

“He was a very dedicated faculty member,” he said. “I think many of [his graduate students] were almost like part of the family, and his wife Dorothy was also very close to his students.”

Miranowski said Timmons’ teaching helped produce “outstanding grad students who became leaders from all over the world.”

“He was very committed to economic development and worked on resource problems in other areas of the world,” he said.

Timmons also was a man who loved his wife and family, hunting and fishing and especially telling stories.

“He was usually the life of the party,” Timmons said of his father. “At dinner parties at our house with faculty, there was three different tables, and Dad would be holding court at one table, telling a story, and the other two tables got up and started listening to him. The men started taking notes.”

In 1987, Timmons started developing signs of Alzheimer’s Disease. He was checked into Bethany Manor in Story City in 1995, where he received “excellent nursing and care,” Timmons said.