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Bernard H. Snitker, 88, of Waukon died Monday, December 1, 2014 at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services were held Thursday, December 4 at 11 a.m. at Salem United Church of Christ, rural Waukon, with Pastor Sue Klimstra officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery.
Bernard Henry Snitker was born May 26, 1926 in Postville, the son of Daniel and Elsie (Flage) Snitker. After graduating from Postville High School, Bernard worked on his parents’ dairy and hog farm.
June 24, 1948, he married Bernice Larsen at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church in rural Waukon. They were blessed with four daughters. The couple purchased an 80-acre farm in Ludlow Township in Allamakee County and raised a dairy herd of registered and grade Brown Swiss cattle and also did hog farrowing and finishing.
Bernard also did some general trucking which included hauling cream to the Ludlow Community Dairy in rural Waukon. Any trucking and farming stopped in 1956, when Bernard was severely burned in a car/tractor accident. In 1957, Bernard and his family moved to Waukon. He then worked as a D.H.I.A. supervisor and also as a fieldman for the Farmers Waukon Co-op Creamery. In 1967, Bernard worked as a state milk sanitarian for the Iowa Department of Agriculture; he retired in 1988. In March 1977, Bernice died from cancer.
November 12, 1977, Bernard married Dora “Jean” (Thorton) Kiesau at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in rural Postville; with this marriage he was blessed with a son. They lived in Waukon until 1980, then moved to an acreage two miles south of town where they raised sheep and finished lambs.
Bernard was an active member of Salem United Church of Christ in rural Waukon, where he served on the church council and taught Sunday school. He was also active in Gideon’s, served on the Veterans Memorial Hospital Board and volunteered with S.H.I.I.P. He liked to sing in a group called Barbershoppers and liked to dance. His favorite pastime was going to auctions and finding “treasures”.
Bernard is survived by his wife, Jean, of Waukon; his children, Connie (Craig) Wenthe and Linda (Kayle) Drape, both of Fredericksburg, Steve (Sue) Kiesau of Onalaska, WI, Nancy (Mike) Uhlenberg of Fredericksburg, and Vickie (Matt) Pladsen of Waukon; 14 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Calvin Snitker of Waukon and Nathan Snitker of Viola, IL.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Bernice; his sister, Evelyn Snitker; a daughter-in-law, Denise Kiesau; and a granddaughter, Jamie Lynn Drape.
“I want to say the good Lord has been very good to us. True, there were moments of turmoil, stress, and tension, but all we had to do was show faith, pray with sincerity, and Jesus Christ was there to give us the needed support.”
Honorary casketbearers were Chrissa Malli, Tonya Speicher, Lacey Runyon, Matti Pladsen, Shannon and Carla Kiesau, and Amanda Weed. Casketbearers were Cory Wenthe, Jason Drape, Brandon and Brock Uhlenberg, Brice and Landon Wood, and Matt Kiesau.
Online condolences may be left at www.martinfunerals.com.