March 2020

Wed
11
Mar

Shirley Biermann

Shirley Biermann

 

Graveside service for Shirley Biermann who died on January 22 will be held on Saturday,  March 14 at 11 a.m. at the West Union Cemetery.

 Lunch will be served at the American Legion following the burial. Friends and family are welcome.

 
Wed
11
Mar

Kenneth Kamper

Kenneth Kamper

 

Kenneth (Food Man) Kamper, 64, of Knoxville, Tennessee passed away peacefully at home holding his wife’s hand on February 14, 2020.

Ken was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Arlington, Iowa. He served three years in the Army stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany and was honorably discharged in 1979. Ken attended Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa where he played football and rugby.

Following relocation to Knoxville, he played rugby with the Knoxville Possums. Among his many accomplishments he was a concert-trained tuba player and an award-winning barbeque cook. He and his wife enjoyed gardening together, time at the beach and watching birds from their deck.

Ken was employed by Farmers Mutual of Tennessee for 33 years as a Senior Underwriter.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Raymond and Elgene Kamper; father-in-law, Fred Myers.

Wed
11
Mar

Marvin Lee

Marvin Lee

 

Marvin Lee born July 7, 1961, passed away on February 24 at his home in Enid, Oklahoma of esophageal cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Brenda; his mother, Eileen Lee; brothers, Delbert and Darrell; sisters, Shirley and Eileen; sister-in-law, Lynn Lee; three stepchildren, Tammy, Chris and Amiee; grandchildren; nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father, Don, and brothers, Donald and in fancy, David and Darwin.

A memorial service will be held at the Hawkeye Community Hall on Sunday, March 15, at 2 p.m. for family and friends 

 
Wed
11
Mar

Carol Westpfahl

Cayrol Westpfahl

 

Cayrol “Joyce” Westpfahl, 86, of Hiawatha, Iowa, passed away on Friday, February 14, 2020, following complications of a stroke, at the Hiawatha Care Center in Hiawatha, Iowa. There will be no visitation held. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 11, 2020, at St. Pius X Catholic Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with Reverend Philip Thompson officiating. Committal services will take place at 2 p.m., Wednesday, at God’s Acres Cemetery, in Clermont, Iowa. Arrangements by Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Marion, Iowa.

 

Wed
11
Mar

Dona Lansing

Dona Lansing

 

Dona Dorothy Lansing, 90, of Clermont, Iowa died Tuesday, March 3, 2020 at Good Samaritan Society in West Union, Iowa. Dona was born December 3, 1929, to Gustave and Bertha Annie (Olson) Gilbertson in Lamoure County near Litchville, North Dakota. In 1938 the family moved to Elgin, Iowa, where Dona attended school in rural Clayton County and graduated from Elgin High School in 1947. 

Dona was united in marriage to Gerald F. Lansing on September 13, 1952. They were blessed with five children. 

Wed
11
Mar

Mary Priscilla Bock

Mary Priscilla Bock

 

Mary Priscilla Bock, age 83 of West Union, Iowa, entered Heaven’s gates on March 4, 2020.  She was born to the late Albert and Iona Hulbert on July 17, 1936.
Mary Priscilla graduated from Upper Iowa University with a degree in elementary education.  On June 20, 1958, after two years of teaching first grade, Mary Priscilla married her high school sweetheart, Clarence Paul Bock. They started their lives together in West Union where they raised their four children.
Mary Priscilla enjoyed reading her Bible, praying, teaching children in Sunday School and AWANA, playing the piano for worship, baking - especially pies - and shopping for antiques.  She will most be remembered for her love for Jesus her Lord and Savior, and her loyalty to family and close friends.
Mary Priscilla was preceded in death by her parents Albert and Iona (Baumgartner) Hulbert.

Wed
11
Mar

Tim Brugman

Tim Brugman

 

Timothy J. Brugman, 60, of West Union, passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Monday, March 2, 2020, at Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital in West Union.  Per his wishes, cremated rites will be observed.  A private memorial service will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family.  

He was born on June 15, 1959 in Spencer, Iowa the son of Keith and Janice (Smith) Brugman.  Tim was united in marriage to Roxane Molokken on July 8, 1978 in Ossian, Iowa.   Tim was employed by the Fayette County Hwy. Department for 42 years.  He enjoyed reading, cheering on the Hawkeyes, and golfing.  He loved spending time with family and friends especially going fishing with his son, Christopher, and listening and attending his daughter, Brittany’s music concerts.

Wed
11
Mar

Ida Krivachek

Ida Krivachek

The family of Ida Krivachek is hosting a card shower in honor of her 85th birthday on March 15. 

Ida has eight children including Jerry, Ron, Lisa, Lori (Moellers), Alan, James, David, and Wayne.

Please send cards to Ida at 1501 - 271st Avenue, Fort Atkinson, IA 52144, to help her celebrate her special day.

Wed
11
Mar

Funeral home is home for Noah Koch

Noah Koch started working at the Burnham-Wood-Grau Funeral Home in West Union last month after recently graduating from mortuary school in Chicago. Koch says he’s glad to back in the town where he was born and raised. He is living in the house that is attached to the funeral home. (Jack Swanson photo)

 

Funeral home is home for Noah Koch

 

 

By Jack Swanson
jswanson@fayettecountynewspapers.com

 

It may not be everyone’s idea of a dream job but for Noah Koch, the dream he has is well on its way to coming true.

Noah officially graduated from Worsham College of Mortuary in Chicago on Wednesday, March 4. Noah dreams of being a funeral director with a funeral home of his own some day, and he’s already almost there.

The day after he graduated, he turned 21. Milestones seem to keep on coming for this West Union native and 2017 North Fayette Valley High School grad.

Noah has already begun his career in the funeral business. Having to apprentice himself for a year before he can officially be known as a funeral director, Noah moved back to West Union from Chicago and began working, and living in the attached house, at the Burnham-Wood- Grau Funeral Home on Feb. 22. The funeral home just happens to be right near where his parents live.

Some might say that Noah hasn’t gone far..and for Noah that’s fine, because he knows that the small town life is the life for him, after spending a year in Chicago.

“I’ve always been a people person. In the big city, you don’t talk to anyone. I chose people over things to do,” Noah related.

Wed
11
Mar

West Union man's relatives from China describe life in lockdown

Sam Phan feels lucky to be in his restaurant in West Union after talking to his relatives in China who are currently in a “lockdown” mode in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.  (Jack Swanson photo)

 

West Union man's relatives from China describe life in lockdown

 

By Jack Swanson
jswanson@fayettecountynewspapers.com

 

For Sam Phan of West Union, the coronavirus is close to home.

No it doesn’t mean he’s got it or that anyone here does, but many of his relatives who live in the city of Wuhan, China, where the outbreak was first reported, have seen their lives turned upside down.

“Everyday they stay home. If they do go out, it can be only one person at a time and they have to sign out and sign in. So one person has to go out for the entire family,” Phan related about some of his family members who live in a high-rise apartment building.

Phan said he has two uncles and their families living there and all of his wife’s family. So far, none of them have been affected.

Wuhan is considered the epicenter of the outbreak. The first reported cases of COVID-19 emerged from this city located in China’s Hubei province on Dec. 31, 2019. On 23 January 2020, the central government of the People's Republic of China imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province in an effort to quarantine the epicentre of an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The incident was commonly referred to in the media as the "Wuhan lockdown"

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