Robert (Bob) Allen Streit, of Ames, Iowa, passed away on March 8th, 2025, at 71 years of age. Robert was the third of nine children born to John and Bonita Streit. He attended Visitation Catholic School in Stacyville, Iowa, for his elementary years and St. Ansgar High School in later years. During this time, Bob was active in 4-H, Catholic Order of Foresters and sports activities, especially baseball.

Bob delayed his leaving for college by a year so he could help rebuild his family’s farm following a catastrophic tornado in 1971, after being caught outside during the tornado and surviving to tell the tale. He then attended Iowa State University (ISU) and majored in plant pathology and pest management. He went on to work for the country’s largest crop consulting company in Garden City, Kansas for four years before moving back to Iowa. Bob continued his work as a technical agronomist with seed companies for 20 more years. He worked on herbicide vs. genetics tolerance ratings and developed programs to evaluate corn hybrids. Bob continued to thrive at work and became a pesticide specialist for DeKalb Seed while also starting to become a more frequent speaker and a writer for an Ag newspaper (went on to do this for 23 years).

Bob used his passion and expertise to start Central Iowa Agronomy in 2002 with Marv Mortensen. The business carries a complete line of agronomy products that improve plant health, reduce diseases, and increase yields while being cost effective. Central Iowa Agronomy and Supply is known for their cutting edge products that result from on-going work internationally and nationally with top researchers and growers. This results in new products that are brought to market to provide solutions for current cropping diseases and problems.

During Bob’s work, he learned about Asian Rust, realized that it was a threat to the world’s food supply, and helped to develop strip tests to identify the fungus, eventually becoming a part of a task force that was convened to study Asian Rust. This led to Bob traveling to many countries and meeting many scientists, growers, and agronomists from all over the world. This meant many more friends for Bob, as well. Bob continued to learn about Goss’s Wilt and Rup and worked on remedying these issues. He contributed to movies including, ‘Genetic Roulette,’ ‘The World According to Monsanto,’ ‘Monsanto Meets its Makers,’ and the book, ‘White Wash: the Story of a Herbicide, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science.’ Bob started to be asked to testify at different hearings involving many environmental toxicology projects, which again led to more travel to places like California, Ecuador, Maui, and Kauai. Bob also presented at conferences in international destinations, including China, Finland, Argentina and Brazil. Bob was very passionate about finding ways to detoxify people and soils of heavy metals and pesticides. Bob has made many connections with people all over the world and always refers to Dr. Don Huber, PhD, and Dr. Michael McNeill, PhD, as his most influential mentors. Bob was extremely passionate about his work, and it is truly what made him tick and thrive. He wanted to help the world up to his very last days on this earth.

When Bob was not working, he enjoyed spending time telling stories, traveling, fishing, spending time outdoors, cheering on his teams (ISU, the Twins, and the Vikings), planting endless amounts of fruit trees and plants, and visiting family.

Bob is survived by his three daughters: Stephanie (Chris) Borgmann, Jennifer (Evan) Streit, and Jessica (Jake) Streit-Hrevus; his siblings, David Streit, Linda (Ian) Davies, Janet Streit, Judy Streit, Karen Bauer, and John (Melissa) Streit; many nieces and nephews; and six grandchildren: William, Winter, Evelyn, Rex, Maverick, and Myla. He is reunited in eternal life with his parents, John and Bonita; his sister, Mary; his brother, Duane; and his grandson, Jack Robert.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Visitation Catholic Church in Stacyville, Iowa, on March 22nd, 2025 at 10 am with Father Raymond Burkle officiating. The visitation will be held the night prior at the church from 4-7 pm. Interment will be in Visitation Cemetery. In lieu of gifts, the family would ask for donations to be made to HLH Heroes Foundation, the charity founded by Bob’s youngest daughter after her son (Bob’s grandson, Jack) lost his battle with this rare, life-threatening autoimmune disease.

A celebration of life will also be held near Ames, IA, on May 31st for Bob’s family, friends, and colleagues to celebrate all of his accomplishments and antics, and convene to do two of Bob’s favorite things - eat BBQ and share stories.

To donate to HLH Heroes Foundation and/or to stay posted about the Celebration of Life being planned, please see “in lieu of gifts” and “events” sections of this website.  Cards may be mailed to the Adams Funeral Home, P.O. Box 261, Adams, MN 55909

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