Obituaries

Pat A’Hearn, age 68, of Waukon passed away December 7, 2015 at Veterans Hospital in Iowa City after a short illness. Services will be held Saturday, July 16 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon.

Friends and family will be gathering at 9 a.m. at the church with services to follow at 10 a.m. Interment will be at Mount Olivet Cemetery, rural Waukon.
 

Bartley J. Needham, 85, of Waukon died Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at Arbor Springs Care Center in West Des Moines. Funeral services were held Monday, July 11 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon, with Rev. Msgr. Cletus Hawes and Fr. Donald Hawes officiating. Burial was at St. Mary's Lycurgus Cemetery, rural Waukon.

Bartley James Needham was born January 28, 1931 in Waukon, the son of Bartley Sr. and Katherine (Sweeney) Needham. He graduated from Waukon High School. In 1953, Bart married Mary Jo Wachter at St. Pius at Cherry Mound Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry. For 30 years, Bart managed the Waukon Redi-Mix plant and also farmed.

Dennis S.  Huffman, 75, of Lansing died April 21, 2016 at Thornton Manor in Lansing. His family extends an invitation to share in a celebration of his life at an open house memorial scheduled for this Saturday, July 9 from 12-4 p.m. at 1332 Village Creek Drive, rural Lansing.
 

Lynette Marie (Weymiller) Christensen, age 68, passed away Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at Benedictine Health Center at Innsbruck in New Brighton, MN. A memorial service will be held at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, July 17 at St. Peter's Christian Community Church in New Albin.

Lynette was born April 9, 1948 in La Crosse, WI. She was preceded in death by her parents, Emil and Elsie Weymiller. She is survived by her husband, Harry; her sister, Bonnie (Butch) Vickery; and her nieces, nephew and many loving friends.
 

Debra “Debbi” Ladwig (nee Zeitler) of Waukon, born May 2, 1955, was welcomed into Jesus’ arms June 30, 2016 at the age of 61 after a year-long battle with cancer. A celebration of life will be held Saturday, July 9 at 11 a.m. at The Branch Community Church, 6125 West Foster Avenue, Chicago, IL. Another celebration of life will be held Saturday, August 13 at 3 p.m. at Village Creek Bible Camp in Lansing.

Debra was a loving mother to Nicole (Greg) Foster of Chicago, IL and Kimberly (Alan) Wegleitner of Lee’s Summit, MO; beloved “Iowa Grandma” to Charlotte Foster, Landon Wegleitner, Elijah Foster, Caleb Foster and Tate Wegleitner; loving daughter of Sylvia (nee Zamp); adored sister to Janis (Shawn) Thomason, Jennifer Sparesus and Steven Zeitler; dear aunt to many nieces and nephews; and friend to countless others. She was preceded in death by her father, Henry Zeitler.

Andrew M. Chase, 20, of Lansing passed away in his sleep at his home in Lansing Friday, July 1, 2016. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at St. Pius Catholic Church (Cherry Mound), rural Harpers Ferry. Rev. John Moser will be the celebrant.

Visitation will be held from 3-7 p.m. Tuesday, July 5 at Thornburg-Grau Funeral Home in Lansing and one hour before services at the church Wednesday. Interment will be held in the church cemetery following the mass.

Andrew Mark Chase was born March 13, 1996 to Steve and Marilyn (Delaney) Chase. He joined a brother, Adam, and two sisters, Amanda and Adriana. Andrew was baptized at St. Pius Catholic Church (Cherry Mound) and confirmed at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church (Wexford). He attended Waterville Elementary School before his family moved to Lansing and he graduated from Kee High School in 2014.

Eldon H. Muchow, 76, of Postville passed away Saturday, July 2, 2016 at his home in Postville. Funeral Services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at Community Presbyterian Church in Postville with Rev. Gary Catterson as the Officiant. Inurnment will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at St. Paul Lutheran Cemetery, Monona. Visitation will be Tuesday, July 5 from 4-7 p.m. at Schutte-Grau Funeral Home in Postville and one hour before services at the church Wednesday.

Eldon Hall, the son of Hall and Mildred (Thompson) Muchow, was born February 19, 1940 at home in Postville.  He graduated from Postville High School in 1957. After high school, Eldon started working at the Postville Creamery and then at Swiss Valley in Luana after the Postville Creamery moved. He worked at the Hygrade Plant in Postville until it closed and he then worked for Iowa Turkey Products for 24 years before his retirement.

Darlene E. Rush, 86, of Waukon died Thursday, June 30, 2016 at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, July 6 at 10 a.m. at Rossville Presbyterian Church in Rossville with Pastor Tim Rupert officiating. Burial will be at Rossville Cemetery, Rossville. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, July 5 at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon.
Darlene Ellen Rush was born October 18, 1929 in La Crosse, WI, the daughter of Creighton and Gladys (Hanson) Bender. She was baptized and confirmed at East Paint Creek Synod Lutheran Church in rural Waterville. In 1947, Darlene graduated from Waterville High School; she played basketball and during her senior year her team played in the state championship game. Because her parents moved to California, Darlene was raised by her grandfather, Otto Hanson, so she could finish school in Waterville.

Lila A. Mahr, 87, of Waukon passed away Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services were held Saturday, July 2 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dorchester with Fr. Donald Hawes officiating. Burial was at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Dorchester.

Lila Ann Mahr, daughter of Reinhard and Alvina (Auna) Lane, was born February 8, 1929 in Spring Grove, MN. She received the sacraments of baptism and confirmation at Highland Lutheran Church in rural Spring Grove, MN. Lila graduated from Spring Grove High School and worked at the Spring Grove Bank.

December 15, 1947, she married the love of her life, Raymond James Mahr, at which time she became a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dorchester.  They lived in Cedar Rapids, where together they worked at Quaker Oats. In 1949 they moved back to the Dorchester area and farmed until 1955.  They then owned and operated Ray and Lila’s Tavern in Dorchester for 10 years.

Ruby C. Olson, 82, of Harpers Ferry died Friday, June 24, 2016 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. A celebration of life was held Monday, June 27 at Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church in rural Waterville, with Pastor Ken Kimball officiating. Burial was at the church cemetery.

Martin Funeral Home in Waukon assisted the family with arrangements. Memorials can be made to Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon, Hospice of Crossing Rivers Health in Prairie du Chien, WI, Lutheran World Relief, the Salvation Army, or to Lutheran Bible Translators.

Ruby Carol Olson was born July 24, 1933 in Churchtown, the daughter of Archibald Thomas and Jennie Olivia (Peterson) Uren. She attended and graduated from Lansing schools; after high school Ruby worked for Rethwisch Lumber and the Lansing button factory.