Obituaries

Oswald (Ozzie) William Goettler was born November 29, 1927 at Andrew to Henry and Magdalena Goettler, very poor, but very religious parents, for this he was thankful. He became a Christian at a very young age and being poor, it taught him to get along with only the things he needed. Ozzie, age 96, passed away January 3, 2024 at Veterans Memorial Hospital, Waukon after a brief stay.

Funeral Service was held Saturday, January 6 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Luana with Vicar Jeremy Wolfe and Pastor Judy Heinrich as the officiants. Inurnment will be held at Smithfield Cemetery, Volney at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to your favorite charity.

He attended Andrew High School for 12 years.  He walked two miles to and from school each day, equaling 720 miles a year, times 12, equaling 8,640 miles to get an education.

Tim G. Gress, 52, of Waukon died Wednesday, January 3, 2024 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral services were held Monday, January 8 at First Presbyterian Church in Waukon with Pastor Grant VanderVelden officiating. Burial was at Oakland Cemetery, Waukon. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the family are preferred.

Timothy Gene Gress was born June 19, 1971 in Waukon, the son of Gary and Dorothy (Johnson) Gress. He was baptized and confirmed at First Presbyterian Church in Waukon. Tim graduated from Waukon High School in 1990.

November 11, 1995, he married Brandie Oliver at First Presbyterian Church. The two later divorced. Tim worked as a head start associate and as an associate at Waukon schools. He also worked at the Park and Rec Department during the summers. Tim was a hard worker and loved what he did; one of Tim’s most valued aspects of his life was working with the kids at school. He also was a respite care worker.

Charlotte Louise (Hartley) Gerdes, 90, departed peacefully December 30, 2023 in Lyngblomsten Care Center, St. Paul, MN, surrounded by family.

Charlotte was born July 17, 1933 in Caledonia, MN to Allen and Ella Hartley. She was raised on the Mt. Hope Farm near New Albin and is one of four siblings. One of her earliest memories was attending and listening to her mother play the organ at Mt. Hope Church where we lay her to rest.

Visitation and funeral services were held at rural Mt. Hope Presbyterian Church, New Albin, Saturday January 6. Rev. Ben Hartley officiated. A later memorial service will also be held at Lyngblomsten Care Center Chapel at 1415 Almond Avenue, St. Paul, MN February 15 at 4 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to Send International. Online condolences may be offered at www.FredricksonFuneralHomes.com.

LaVon A. Renne, 92, passed away December 25, 2023 at Northgate Care Center in Waukon. A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

LaVon was born April 14, 1931 in Postville and is the daughter of Leonard and Viola (Koehring) Opfer. She was united in marriage to Ralph Rueben Renne September 12, 1950 at the Bethlehem Church in rural Postville.

Survivors include her daughter Violet (Dave) Anderson of Postville, son Ronald (Tami) Renne of Postville and grandchildren Brett (Cindy) of Turney, MO, Cory (Lorena) Anderson of Postville, Jeremy (Laura) Renne of Postville, Nick Renne of Postville, Jamie (Jess) Parker of Prairie du Chien, WI and Ciarra (Matt) Heiderscheit of Chatfield, MN, 14 great-grandchildren, 5 great-great-grandchildren and her brother Virgil Opfer of Waukon.

Preceding her in death were her parents and her husband Ralph in 2004. 

Michael T. Zeimet, 71, of New Albin, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, November 27, 2023, at his home. A sharing time will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, January 6, at the New Albin Community Center. Friends may greet the family from 10 a.m. until time of services at the community center. Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon, is handling arrangements.

Charles “Chuck” Sever Kolsrud was born in Waukon, October 23, 1935. His parents were Harris and Lucille (Greiser) Kolsrud. His grandparents were Sever and Selma Kolsrud of Waterville and Charles and Emma Greiser of New Albin.

A memorial service for Chuck will be held Saturday, January 13, 2024, at Tanque Verde Lutheran Church (8625 E Tanque Verde Rd, Tucson, AZ 85749) at 1 p.m. A coffee reception will follow the service at the church. The inurnment will take place at the Old East Paint Creek Church Cemetery near Waterville in the late spring or summer. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Tucson Youth On Their Own (yoto.org) are appreciated.

Leo James Delaney, 84, of Tomball, TX, formerly of Lansing, died Monday, December 18, 2023 at HCA Houston Healthcare in Tomball. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, December 27 at 11 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Wexford Catholic Church in rural Lansing with Fr. Joseph Sevcik officiating. Burial will be at the church cemetery. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, December 26 at Thornburg - Grau Funeral Home in Lansing, where there will be a 6:30 p.m. scripture service, and will continue one hour before services at the church Wednesday.

Leo James Delaney was born July 12, 1939 at home in Lansing, the son of Patrick and Evelyn (Mullarkey) Delaney. He was baptized and confirmed at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Wexford, rural Lansing and graduated from Lansing High School in 1957. Following high school, he proudly served in the U.S. Air Force, eventually moving to Oklahoma, where he graduated from Oklahoma State Technical College with a drafting degree.

Cynthia Foley, 69, of Harpers Ferry died Sunday, December 17, 2023 at her home in Harpers Ferry. Memorial services will be held Wednesday, December 27 at 2:30 p.m. at Martin-Grau Funeral Home in Waukon with Fr. John Moser officiating. A visitation will follow until 6 p.m.

Cynthia “Cindy” Sue Foley was born October 22, 1954 in La Crosse, WI, the daughter of Donald and Marcella (Buege) Althof. She was baptized at St. Mary’s in La Crosse and confirmed at St. Charles in Genoa, WI. Cindy attended St. Charles school and graduated from St. George High School in Lansing in 1972. Following high school, she attended WWTI in La Crosse.

Cindy met and married the love of her life, Mike Foley, August 24, 1974 at St. Charles in Genoa. The two were married for 49 years, through thick and thin. Throughout her life, Cindy was self-employed, eventually becoming the owner of Serendipity Cleaning.

Cyril F. Murphy (Murf/Babe) was born in Waukon to Cyril V. and Irene (Jochum) Murphy January 27, 1931 and died in Edina, MN December 11, 2023. Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 30 at 11 a.m. with visitation one hour before at St. Edward’s Catholic Church, 5800 West 94th Street, Bloomington, MN.

Burial prayer services and full military honors will be held Sunday, December 31 at 2 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church at 648 Main Street, Lansing. Final interment will be at Gethsemane Cemetery, 1928 Main Street, Lansing. Lunch will be served after both the funeral and burial services.

Cyril was raised in Lansing with two older brothers, Robert and Daniel, and two younger sisters, Mary and Rosanne. He graduated from Immaculate Conception elementary and high schools, where he played basketball and baseball. It was playing these two sports where he made lifelong friends.

Our beloved husband, father, and grandfather Byron Robert Steiber, age 73, of Iowa Falls passed away surrounded by family Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, MN. In honoring his life, his family requests to carry forward Byron’s positivity and caring spirit by doing an unsolicited act of kindness for someone in his name.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date. Memorial donations given in honor of Byron will be left to the family’s discretion. To share a special memory or condolence, please visit www.ranfranzandvinefh.com.

Born in Waukon to Frederick and Marjorie Jean (Maust) Steiber, Byron’s journey was grounded in the values cultivated on the Steiber family farm in Lansing.