Velere D.
Stromer, 1945-2006
December 6, 2006
Velere
D. Stromer, 61, of Klemme, went
home to be with the Lord on
Friday, December 1, 2006. He
died at Mercy Medical
Center-North Iowa in Mason City,
following a heart attack.
Funeral services
were held at 10:30 a.m., on
Tuesday, December 5, at the Zion
Evangelical and Reformed Church
in Garner, with the Rev. Tim
Diehl officiating. Music was
provided by organist, Margaret
Jass who accompanied soloist,
Joleen Rolland and
congregational hymns. Ushers
were Al DeWitt, David Stromer,
Daniel Stromer and William
Stromer.
Honorary bearers
were his six grandchildren and
three sons-in-law. Casket
bearers were Kevin Stromer, Dean
Stromer, Al DeWitt, Virgil
DeVary, Terry Anderson, Clayton
Prestholt, Eric Stromer and Jon
Rollefson. Burial was in the
Concord Township Cemetery in
Garner. The Cataldo Funeral Home
was in charge of the
arrangements.
Velere Delane
Stromer, the son of Verner and
Verna (Alford) Stromer, was born
on October 2, 1945 in Mason
City. He was baptized and
confirmed at the Zion
Evangelical and Reformed Church
in Garner. Velere graduated from
the Klemme High School in 1963.
Following his schooling, he
drove school bus for the Klemme
Community Schools. He graduated
from the Reisch Auction School
in Mason City and was an
auctioneer in his family's
business, Stromer Auction
Service, for many years.
On July 30, 1966, he married
Juanita Marie Cordes at the
Ramsey Reformed Church in
Titonka. They lived north of
Klemme where Velere farmed and
raised hogs and cattle for many
years. He also managed hog lots
for large corporations in the
area and owned and operated his
own trucking business.
Velere loved his
wife, three beautiful daughters
and being a "Papa" to all of his
grandchildren. He also loved
horses and hooking up his horse,
Homer to the buggy to go for
rides with his family and
friends. He especially enjoyed
giving rides at the Garner
Duesey Days and Klemme Ag Days.
He also enjoyed traveling in his
18-wheeler praising and serving
the Lord with every mile. Velere
was very strong in his faith and
always believed that through the
power of prayer all things are
made possible. Velere would want
to be remembered by his message
on his truck, "We Give You
Praise Lord Jesus."
He was a member
of the Zion Evangelical and
Reformed Church in Garner, where
he served as a deacon and usher.
He is survived by
his wife of 40 years, Juanita of
Klemme; his three daughters,
Andrea (LeMunne) Robinson of
Plymouth, Minnesota, Jackie
(Eric) McGrail of North
Huntingdon, Pennsylvania and
Vallie (B. J.) Martin of
Northwood; six grandchildren,
LaRiessah Thompson, Dre'Stan
Thompson, Kohlee Weizenegger,
Nakia Stromer, Abigail Martin
and Katherine McGrail; three
brothers, Byron (Mildred)
Stromer of Garner, Val (Mildred)
Stromer of Alleman, Iowa and
Lyndon (Jeanne) Stromer of
Spokane, Missouri; and many
nieces and nephews.
He was preceded
in death by his parents; and a
nephew, Doug Stromer.
©The
Garner Leader & Signal 2006
|
Irene Margaret Chizek, 1924-2006
December 6, 2006
Irene
Margaret (Jager) Chizek, 82, of
Garner, died on Saturday,
December 2, 2006, at the Mercy
Medical Center-North Iowa in
Mason City, surrounded by her
family.
Funeral services
will be held at 10:30 a.m., on
Wednesday, December 6, at the
St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church
in Duncan, with Fr. Michael
Schueller officiating. Lector
will be Roger Kopacek. Music
will be provided by organist,
Mary Kopacek who will accompany
the church choir and vocalists,
Chester Plonski and Tanna
Frederick. Ushers will be Arnold
Prohaska, Wayne Chizek and
Warren Chizek. Honorary bearers
will be her grandchildren.
Casket bearers
will be Don Prohaska, Gary
Thorns, David Frederick, Tom
Frederick, Chester Plonski and
Sydney Shand. Burial will be in
the St. John's Catholic Cemetery
in Duncan. Visitation was held
on Tuesday evening at the
Cataldo Funeral Chapel in
Garner, with a combined Rosary
Society and Catholic Workman
Rosary. Visitation will continue
one hour prior to services at
the church.
Irene Margaret,
the daughter of Charles and
Fannie (Helmers) Jager, was born
on February 20, 1924 at South
St. Paul, Minnesota. At the age
of 9, she moved with her family
to Mason City where she
graduated from high school in
1942.
In the fall of
1940, Irene met the love of her
life, Clarence Chizek at Hobo
Days in Britt while on a blind
date. On June 20, 1945, they
were married at the St.
Wenceslaus Catholic Church in
Duncan, while Clarence was on
leave from the military.
After the war,
they made their home north of
Garner where they farmed and
raised their eight children. In
1980, they retired from farming
but continued to live on the
farm until 2004, when they
became tenants at Cardinal Grove
Assisted Living. In May of 2006,
Irene became a resident of the
Concord Care Center in Garner.
Irene loved
spending time with her friends
and was devoted to her children
and grandchildren. She enjoyed
gardening, bowling, playing
cards, traveling, especially
trips to Las Vegas, California
and New York, and going on
girl's weekend trips to Lake
Nancy, Wisconsin with her
daughters and granddaughters.
She was a member
of the St. Wenceslaus Catholic
Church, Rosary Society, Catholic
Workman FCSLA W51, Birthday Club
and Happy Homemakers.
Irene is survived
by her husband, Clarence of
Garner; 8 children, Mary (Gary)
Thoms of Garner, Barbara
(Chester) Plonksi of Forest
City, Nancy (David) Frederick of
Mason City, Cindy Chizek of
Mason City, Sharon (Tom)
Frederick of Forest City, Tom
(fiancée, Michelle) Chizek of
Garner, Betty Chizek of Mason
City and Robert (partner Sydney
Shand) Chizek of San Jose,
California; ten grandchildren,
Shelly (Don) Prohaska, Tanna
Frederick, Nathaniel Frederick,
Joshua Frederick, Hannah
Frederick, Mara Frederick,
Colton Voss, Mariel Voss, Ryan
Sanner, Jenna Chizek and Arandas
Alahan; two great-grandchildren,
Caleb and Jesslyn Prohaska; a
brother, Kenneth Jager of
Jacksonville, Florida; and many
nieces and nephews.
She was preceded
in death by her parents; and
sister, June (Calvin) Pitts; a
sister-in-law, Marion Jager; and
brothers-in-law, Edwin Chizek
and Walter (Marceline) Chizek.
If love could have saved thee,
thou would not have died.
©The Garner Leader & Signal 2006
|
Thomas L.
Busch, 1946-2006
December 13, 2006
Thomas
Leroy "Shrub" Busch, 60, of
Cedar Rapids, died on Tuesday,
December 5, 2006, at the St.
Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids,
following a brief illness.
A Mass of Resurrection was held
on Saturday, December 9, at the
St. Ludmilas Catholic Church.
The Rev. Tom McDermott
officiated. Burial was in the
Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.
The Cedar Memorial Funeral Home
of Cedar Rapids was in charge of
the arrangements.
Tom was born on
July 8, 1946, in Garner, Iowa,
the son of LeRoy Busch and
Charlotte (Kelly) Ziesmer. He
married Diane K. Fisher on June
9, 1995, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tom graduated
from the Garner-Hayfield High
School, where he earned
All-State awards in football,
basketball, track and baseball.
Torn received a football
scholarship to Iowa State
University, where he earned a BS
Degree and set many school and
Big 8 Conference records as a
wide receiver. He was honored in
his senior year at ISU, when he
was selected to play in the Blue
Gray Game in Montgomery, Alabama
and in the Senior Bowl in
Mobile, Alabama.
He was then
drafted by the St. Louis
Cardinals professional football
team, where he played one year
and then went on to play for a
year in the Canadian
Professional Football League.
For the last 37 years Tom went
on to coach and teach school in
Klemme, Cedar Rapids-Washington
and Jefferson High Schools, and
Wilson and Roosevelt Middle
Schools.
Torn had many
hobbies and especially enjoyed
playing on various slow pitch
softball teams as well as many
major fast pitch softball teams,
including Butt'r Topp out of
Clear Lake, The Bombers out of
Des Moines, Collins Radio out of
Cedar Rapids, JSK Engineering
and Mahoneys in Cedar Rapids,
where he made life-long friends.
He was inducted into the Iowa
Fast Pitch Hall of Fame in 1998,
the Cedar Rapids Hall of Fame in
1999 and the Iowa High School
Football Hall of Fame.
He was a member
of the CREA and St. Ludmilas
Catholic Church. Tom especially
enjoyed spending time with his
family and close friends, along
with golfing, fishing and
coaching high school and middle
school football, basketball,
track and girls softball.
Surviving in
addition to his wife, Diane; are
two sons, Bob Busch of Marion
and Tom Busch (Meg) of Marion;
three step-children, Jason Boyle
(Kelli) of Cedar Rapids, Josh
Boyle (Genevieve) of Des Moines
and Tara Boyle and fiancée, Mike
of Cedar Rapids; two
grandchildren, Alexis and Austin
Busch; and two
step-grandchildren, Madison and
Logan Boyle.
He was preceded
in death by his parents; and a
half sister, Jeanette Bartell.
©The
Garner Leader & Signal 2006
|
Gerald L. Schmidt, 1924-2006
December 13, 2006
Gerald
L. Schmidt, 82, of Mason City,
died on Friday, December 8,
2006, at the Mercy Medical
Center-North Iowa, Mason City.
Funeral services
were held on Monday, December
11, at the St. Joseph Catholic
Church, Mason City, with the
Rev. Harry H. Koelker
officiating. Burial was in the
Elmwood-St Joseph Cemetery,
Mason City. The
Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial
Chapel of Mason City was in
charge of the arrangements.
Gerald was born
on April 8, 1924, in Garner, the
son of Leo Francis and Rose
(Roach) Schmidt. He graduated
from the Garner High School in
1941.
He served in the
U.S. Navy during WW II.
Following the service, he moved
back to Garner. He married
Rosella Koehler on July 3, 1947,
and enjoyed 46 years with her.
Gerald attended
Hamilton Business College, Mason
City. He went to work for Mason
City Millworks as a bookkeeper
and later into sales where he
became very successful and where
he acquired numerous friends and
business associates. He retired
from Millworks after working for
them for over forty years in
1990. Through the years he was
known for his sense of humor and
honesty.
He enjoyed
playing cards, bingo, golfing,
bowling, volunteering for
different organizations and
above all his caring and
generosity for his friends and
family.
He is survived by
his five children, Patricia
Weiler and her husband, Wayne of
Aurora, Illinois, Linda Weiler
of Phoenix, Arizona, Melody
Walker and her husband, Dan of
Rochester, Minnesota, Steve
Schmidt and Jeff Schmidt both of
Mason City; 18 grandchildren,
Adam Weiler, Laura Weiler, Joe
Weiler, Ben Weiler, Rachel
Ossmo, Jake Weiler, Jesse
Weiler, Annie Weiler, Abby
Weiler, Amanda Weiler, Alexis
Weiler, John Walker, Emily
Walker, Ryan Schmidt, Cara
Fernandez, Samantha Schmidt,
Stephanie Schmidt and Gabrielle
Schmidt; four
great-grandchildren, Alexis
Gasca, Christian Gasca, Elena
Fernandez and Katilynn Stopski;
two brothers, Roland Schmidt and
his wife, Lucille and Darl
Schmidt and his wife, Darlene,
both of Garner; and many nieces
and nephews.
He was preceded
in death by his parents; wife,
Rosella in 1993; son, John
Schmidt; and one grandson, Aaron
Schmidt.
©The
Garner Leader & Signal 2006
|
Donella M. Erdman, 1923-2006
December 20, 2006
Donella
M. Erdman, 83, of Garner, died
on Tuesday, December 12, 2006,
at the Hancock County Memorial
Hospital in Britt.
Funeral services
were held at 10:30 a.m., on
Friday, December 15, at the St.
Boniface Catholic Church in
Garner, with Fr. Henry Huber
officiating. Donna Young was the
lector. Music was provided by
organist, Carolyn Kumsher who
accompanied the church choir.
Ushers were Robert Kral and
Lawrence Engstler.
Casket bearers
were, Dick Voortman, Ron Hejna,
Gary Schisel, Cecil Noble and
Elmer Young. Burial was in the
St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery
in Garner. The Cataldo Funeral
Home was in charge of the
arrangements.
Donella Mae
Erdman, the daughter of John and
Aurelia Marie (McCoy) Erdman,
was born on June 18, 1923, at
Milford. She graduated from the
Marshalltown High School and
continued her education at a
business college in Mason City.
Donella worked for several years
in Mason City before moving to
California, where she worked at
Boeing Aircraft.
She then moved to
Des Moines where she was
employed at Meredith Publishing
for 12 years and later was an
executive assistant for the
American Chiropractic
Association in Des Moines.
Donella then moved to Washington
D.C., where she helped with the
training of chiropractors. She
returned to Des Moines and was
employed at the Polk County
Courthouse. In 1986, she moved
to Garner to help care for her
family.
She was a member
of the St. Boniface Catholic
Church in Garner and the Rosary
Society.
Donella is
survived by her sisters, Kathryn
McLeod of Ann Arbor, Michigan
and Rose Nelson of Garden Grove,
California; ten nieces and
nephews, Diane, Sue, Lynne,
Patrick, Paul, Anne, Joannie,
Laura, Cindy and Val; and her
special friend, "Pretty Kitty."
She was preceded
in death by her parents;
brother, Robert Erdman and
sister, Helen Erdman.
©The
Garner Leader & Signal 2006
|
Douglas
D. Adams, 1960-2006
January 3, 2007
Douglas
D. Adams, 46, of Garner, died on
Wednesday, December 27, 2006, at
the University of Minnesota
Medical Center-Fairview Campus
in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after
a lengthy battle with cancer.
Funeral
services were held at 2:00 p.m.,
on Sunday, December 31, at the
Garner-Hayfield High School
Auditorium, with the Rev. David
Wagner officiating. Music was
provided by pianist, Mary
Kopacek who accompanied soloist,
Bill Renner and congregational
hymns. Ushers were Rob Legge,
Jim Hill, Ted Hovda and Dave
Steen.
Honorary
bearers were Glen Greiman, Stan
Greiman, Ron Bogle, Al Patten
and Jim Knuth. Casket bearers
were Brandon Stromer, Todd
Christians, Paul Miller, Bruce
Brinkmeyer, Paul Stolte and Greg
Tidman. Burial was in the
Concord Township Cemetery in
Garner. The Cataldo Funeral Home
was in charge of the
arrangements.
Douglas D.
Adams, the son of Deane R. and
Janet L. (Hillygus) Adams, was
born on November 6, 1960 at
Marshalltown. He graduated from
the Beaman-Conrad-Liscomb High
School in 1979. He continued his
education at Iowa State
University in Ames graduating in
1983 with a Bachelor of Arts
Degree in Animal Science and a
Bachelor of Arts Degree in
Public Service and
Administration in Agriculture.
On June 8,
1985, he married Brenda Habben
at the Presbyterian Church in
Mason City. They lived in Garner
where they raised their three
children, Jessica, Lindsey and
Jordan. Doug was employed as a
financial officer for Farm
Credit Services of America since
2000.
Prior to
working at FCSA, he was employed
by Cargill for 17 years. He was
active in his children's
activities and served as a youth
sports coach and drama coach at
the high school. He enjoyed
spending time with his family
and friends, raising, showing
and judging sheep and helping
with community projects.
Doug was a
member of the United Methodist
Church in Garner where he served
as a Sunday School Teacher. He
belonged to the National Suffolk
Sheep Association, Northern
Plains Club Lamb Association and
was a 4-H Club Leader.
In 1995, Doug was honored with
the Governor's Leadership Award.
He was recognized for his
service to his community by
being named Garner Jaycee's
Citizen of the Year in 1999. He
also was awarded the Robert
Hiscocks Memorial 4-H Award,
received an honorary 4-H Member
Award, was a Relay for Life
Ambassador, and was a Cargill
President's Club winner.
He is
survived by his wife, Brenda of
Garner; three children, Jessica
Adams of West Des Moines,
Lindsey Adams a freshman at
Truman State in Kirksville,
Missouri and Jordan Adams a
junior in high school; his
parents, Deane and Janet Adams
of Marshalltown; two sisters,
Lori Adams of Ames and Lana
(Galen) Adams-Herr of Cedar
Falls; a brother, Dan (Karen)
Adams of Oskaloosa; and three
nieces.
He was preceded in death by
his maternal and paternal
grandparents.
©The Garner Leader & Signal 2007
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