Margaret Irene Randall, 1920-2007

April 11, 2007

Margaret Irene Randall, 86, of Garner, died on Saturday, April 7, 2007, at the Concord Care Center in Garner.

Memorial services will be held at 11:00 a.m., on Saturday, April 14, at the Faith Lutheran Church in Miller, with Rose Visser lay minister officiating. Music will be provided by organist, Margaret Torkelson who will accompany soloist, Warren Torkelson and a congregational hymn.

Memorials may be directed to the Faith Lutheran Church in Miller. The Cataldo Funeral Home in Garner is in charge of the arrangements.

Margaret Irene Randall, the younger of two children of C. E. and Ella (Donaldson) Morrison, was born on April 18, 1920 at Gibbon, Nebraska. She was baptized and became a member of the First Methodist Church in Kearney, Nebraska. Irene attended country school and graduated from the Kearney High School in 1938.

During 1937 and 1938 Irene and brother, Art played guitar and violin and sang country music duets on Kearney Radio Station KGFW every Saturday afternoon for a 15-minute program. After graduating from high school, Irene worked at a greenhouse and later managed a home for 3 elderly people. She also did other community work.

On March 22, 1941, she was married to Robert Joseph Randall at Gibbon. They lived near Gibbon where Irene helped out with the ranching and farming. On January 10, 1944 their son, Michael was born. They then moved to LuVerne and later Crystal Lake where they farmed. They later moved to Britt where Irene worked in a cafe, managed a bakery and was a bookkeeper for the Animal Husbandry Department of Iowa State University from 1959 to 1969. In 1965, they moved to their home in Hayfield and opened the Hayfield Coffee Shop which was attached to their home.

Irene enjoyed being with her customers and operated it mostly by herself for several years. Irene and R.J. enjoyed traveling and made nine trips to Anchorage, Alaska, to visit their son and his family from 1969 to 1986. She loved being with them and especially her two grandsons. Due to ill health in 1986, Irene slowed down and put her efforts toward community work in the Hayfield area.

She was always willing to help out whenever she could. She collected money for flowers for funerals in Hayfield since 1966. She made many cards and sent them to shut-ins and those in the hospital as well as birthday card and anniversary cards. Irene also had a phone ministry and contacted many people every day. She enjoyed working in the garden while she was well. She loved people and enjoyed visiting with her many friends and close neighbors. Most of all, she loved being with her family.

She was a good devoted wife, a caring fun-filled mom to her son, daughter-in-law and others she picked up along the way, a laughing, thoughtful grandma who bragged up her grandsons and shared many thoughts, jokes and secrets with them, and was a loving great-grandma to the joy of her life, her great-granddaughter.

Irene was an active member of the Faith Lutheran Church in Miller where she and R.J. helped out whenever they could.

Those left to cherish her memory include her son, Michael (Sandi) Randall of Clear Lake; two grandsons, Clint Randall and his daughter, Alexandria of Clear Lake and Travis (fiancée, Alanna) Randall of Hayfield; and a sister-in-law, Wanda Morrison of Kearney, Nebraska and her two children, Melanie and Dennis.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 66 years, R.J. on March 19, 2007; her parents; and her brother, Art. She will be greatly missed and leaves a hole in many hearts that no one else can fill.
©The Garner Leader & Signal 2007

Gordon G. Lemke, 1937-2007

May 2, 2007

Gordon G. Lemke, 69, formerly of the Klemme area, died at his home in Garden Grove, California, on Tuesday, April 10, 2007.

Memorial services were held at Westminster Memorial Park, Westminster, California, on Friday, April 20.

He was born on September 29, 1937, to Reuben and Edith Lemke who farmed near Klemme prior to relocating to California in 1960. He attended the Liberty No. 6 Country School and graduated from the Klemme High School, class of 1955.

Those left to mourn his passing are his wife, Joan; two sons, Gordon Lemke Jr., Ronald and Claire Lemke; and one daughter, Lori (Lemke) and Tom Gardner; three grandchildren, Alexandra, Bradley and Breanna Gardner; three sisters, Beverly (Lemke) Morrison, Audrey (Lemke) Olson and Kathleen (Lemke) Dodson; and one brother, Herschel Lemke, all of whom reside in California; and several nieces and nephews.
©The Garner Leader & Signal 2007

Maxine E. Marlow

April 18, 2007

Maxine E. Marlow, 71, of Clear Lake, died on Thursday, April 12, 2007, at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m., on Wednesday, April 18, at the First Congregational Church in Clear Lake, with Rev. Jim Allard officiating.

Visitation will be held one hour prior to the services at the church on Wednesday. The Cataldo Funeral Home in Garner is in charge of the arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the American Cancer Society.

Maxine Elaine Marlow, the daughter of Clarence and Eunice (Doege) Riebhoff, was born on February 13, 1936 at Burt, Iowa. She attended and graduated from the Burt High School. Maxine was a career woman who rose to become head of corporate purchasing and materials management for the Scantron Corporation in California. She retired at the age of 62, and returned to Iowa to be close to her family and to help care for her mother.

She was a member of the First Congregational Church in Clear Lake.

Maxine is survived by her three children, Debra (Kenneth) Dennis of Studio City, California, Robert (Lisa) Marlow of Wake Forest, North Carolina and Michelle Sanner (Tom Chizek) of Garner; three grandchildren, Casey Dennis, Ryan Sanner and Jenna Chizek; and a brother-in-law, John Geesman of Charles City.

She was preceded in death by her parents; two sisters, Clarice Luedtke and Lavonne Geesman; and her brother, Donald Riebhoff.
©The Garner Leader & Signal 2007

Harold Anderson, 1937-2007

May 2, 2007

Harold Anderson, age 69, of Goodell, passed away on Saturday, April 21, 2007, at the Mercy Medical Center of North Iowa in Mason City.

Funeral services were held on Wednesday, April 25, at the Evangelical Free Church, Highway 18 West in Clear Lake, with Pastor Randy Vaage officiating.

Burial was in the Amsterdam Cemetery east of Goodell. Graveside military rites were performed by the Belmond Honor Guard. The Dugger-Ewing Funeral Home of Belmond was in charge of the arrangements.

Harold Anderson, son of Verdie and Mary (Goodridge) Anderson, was born on November 4, 1937, on their family farm in Goodell. Harold was raised on the family farm and attended a one room school house in rural Goodell. He was also a Klemme High School graduate. Harold was drafted and served two years in the Army. After being discharged from the Army he returned to work on the family farm.

Harold was united in marriage to Bonnie Oltjernerun on April 26, 1969, at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City. To this union their son, Dennis was born.

Harold loved farming, including haying, raising sheep and hogs, and sheering sheep with his brother. He also enjoyed going to farm sales and driving to town to drink coffee with his friends. Most recently, he enjoyed spending time with his twin grandsons, Gregory and Andrew and his granddaughter, Kylie.

He was a former president of the Hancock County Pork Producers, served on the Hancock County Oil Board, was a 30 year trustee of Twin Lakes Township, was currently on the Prairie Energy Board, and attended the Evangelical Free Church of Clear Lake.

Harold is survived by his wife, Bonnie of Goodell; his son, Dennis (Julie) Anderson of Woodbury, Minnesota; one sister, Loretta Smith of Belmond; twin grandsons, Gregory and Andrew Anderson; one granddaughter, Kylie Anderson; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Harvey Anderson and Leonard Anderson; two sisters, Marian Kinseth and his twin sister, Harriet Halfpop; three half-brothers, Clifford Anderson, Andrew Anderson and Harry Anderson; and one half-sister, Mary Prelip.
©The Garner Leader & Signal 2007

Calvin C. Kraus, 1936-2007

May 9, 2007

Calvin C. Kraus, 71, of Garner, died on Monday, April 30, 2007, at his home southwest of Garner. He fought a gallant fight against a very rare blood disease, Amyloidosis.

His body has been donated to the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Memorial services were held on Thursday, May 3, at the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church in Garner, with the Rev. Larry Laskie and the Rev. David Graham officiating. Music was provided by organist, Margaret Jass who accompanied soloist, Gary Moore and congregational hymns. Ushers were Allan DeWitt and Alan Jass.

A flag presentation was conducted by the Garner Veterans Ceremonial Unit. The Cataldo Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.

Calvin Charles Kraus, the son of Emil and Emma (Grell) Kraus, was born on March 20, 1936 at Klemme. He graduated from the Garner High School and the Mason City Junior College. Cal served his country in the U.S. Army in the artillery division at Nike Bases in the Chicago area.

On November 28, 1957, he married Sharon Louise Zech at Charles City. Following his honorable discharge, they moved to Rockford where Cal farmed with his father-in-law. In 1963 they moved to Garner where Cal worked at the Goodnature Store. Cal later was employed at Winnebago Industries in Forest City as director of purchasing for nearly 20 years. He also worked in the purchasing department at IMT and Stellar Industries in Garner before retiring in 2003. He owned and operated a car wash in Garner.

Cal and Sharon enjoyed traveling to Hawaii every year for 23 years during the month of February. He also enjoyed traveling around the United States and would check out any museum located in that particular city. He loved the outdoors. Cal fished in many places in the U.S. and Canada and loved camping with his family and friends in his Winnebago motorhome.

He was a member of Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church where he served for a term on the consistory. He was a member of the Garner American Legion and served on the city council in Garner.

Cal is survived by his wife of nearly 50 years, Sharon of Garner; four children, Tom (Lisa) Kraus of Garner, Brian (Sherri) Kraus of LeMars, Jason (Janelle) Kraus of Nashua and Ellen (Brian) Schaeffer of Spokane, Washington; six grandchildren, Andrea (Matt) Thompson, Jena Kraus, Jesse Kraus, Ben Kraus, Breanne Kraus and Kaitlyn Kraus; two precious great-grandchildren, Lillian Rose Thompson and Ryan Matthew Thompson; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Arlene Kramer.
©The Garner Leader & Signal 2007