News Center newsletter

Darrel Elliot Crawford, age 70, of Frankville passed away December 13, 2018 at his home surrounded by family and friends after his one-year battle with a rare form of prostate cancer. A celebration of life for Darrel was held Tuesday, December 18 at the Frankville Fire Station in Frankville. Memorials may be made to the Frankville Fire Department.

Darrel was born May 28, 1948, the son of Leonard and Iona (Rocksvold) Crawford at the Decorah Hospital. He grew up on his family’s farm in Frankville - attending Frankville School. He was baptized and confirmed at the Glenwood Lutheran Church and then graduated from Postville High School in 1966.

He continued his education at Upper Iowa University, as well as Iowa State University. Afterwards, Darrel ran the family farm in Frankville, worked for Szabo Construction in Postville and later at Valley Community Schools as the Grounds & Facility Director.

Clarice Christensen Leas passed into eternal rest December 1, 2018 in Tucson, AZ. She will be interred in Evergreen Cemetery, rural Waukon at a later date.

Clarice Christensen was born October 17, 1929 to Carl and Cora (Engrav) Christensen in Lansing. She attended Center School #2 and graduated from Waukon High School. After graduation she worked at the Allamakee County Courthouse in Waukon.

She and LeRoy Leas were married December 10, 1949. They moved to Arizona in 1957. There she was employed by and retired from GSA-Federal Government.

She is survived by her son, Kermit, of Tucson, AZ; two sisters, Audrey (Clayton) Ricker of Strawberry, AZ and Coreen Werner of Salem, OR; a brother, Jim (Kay) Christensen of Lansing; and two sisters-in-law, Joyce (Lowell) Siegele of McGregor and Eileen Olloff of Freeport, IL. She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; one nephew; three brothers-in-law and one sister-in-law.
 

Eugene J. Oesterle, 89, of Waukon died Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral services were held Saturday, December 22 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon with Fr. Mark Osterhaus officiating. Burial was at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon.

Eugene John Oesterle was born May 1, 1929 to John and Laura (Schellhammer) Oesterle in rural Lansing on the Schellhammer family farm. He attended country schools before farming with his dad. September 30, 1950, Gene married Darlene Heiderscheit at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Lansing; they celebrated 68 years together.

After getting married, Gene worked in La Crosse, WI before returning to the Waukon area to farm. In 1967, he started his own business, Oesterle Pump Service, until semi-retiring after about 20 years; he then worked for Welch LP, Waukon schools as a custodian, and then as a transit driver.

Mae Jean Bakke, 86, of Waukon died Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral services were held Saturday, December 22 at Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church in rural Waukon, with Pastor Ken Kimball officiating. Burial was at the church cemetery. The family encourages memorials to Veterans Memorial Hospital or Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Church, both of Waukon.

Mae Jean “Gee Gee” Bakke was born October 1, 1932 in Decorah, the daughter of Nels and Stella (Tollefson) Severson. She was baptized and confirmed at Decorah Lutheran Church, where she later was a member of the Dorcus Society, sang in the choir and taught Sunday school. She graduated from Decorah High School in 1951, after which she worked in Minneapolis, MN for a short time.

Nearly 25 interested community members attended the pain control presentation hosted by Dr. Dave Schwartz at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon Wednesday evening, December 5. Dr. Schwartz explained the two new options which are now available locally at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon to help with chronic joint and muscular skeletal pain.  These new procedures are providing options for people who have reached a point where there are really no other options, except for joint replacement, if that even is an option for them.

These new P.R.P. and stem cell procedures both involve injections and have been very successful in delaying total joint replacement. Dr. Dave Schwartz is the physician on the Veterans Memorial Hospital staff who performs both of these procedures.

Veterans Memorial Hospital recently received a very generous donation of children’s books from Maxwell Moore, son of Andy and Emily Moore of Waukon. For his eighth birthday, in lieu of presents for himself, he requested that his classmates bring a book to be donated to the hospital for children of any age to enjoy. Maxwell is pictured above with many of the books his friends so generously gave him in honor of his eighth birthday. These books have been scattered around into every department of the hospital by the Housekeeping staff to ensure each waiting room and department has a few new books for the young patients to enjoy while visiting the hospital. Submitted photo.
 

Each and every day, 24 hours a day, the Veterans Memorial Hospital Emergency Room (ER) is staffed with an emergency provider to see the ER patients with little waiting.

On the weekends and holidays when the local clinics are closed, the public is welcome to visit the Weekend Walk-In Services for non-emergencies. Non-emergencies are considered concerns that could be seen by a physician in a clinic such as a sore throat, ear ache, flu-like symptoms, coughs and congestion, etc.

Annual flu vaccination protects yourself and loved ones

The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) reminds Iowans that an annual flu vaccination is the best way to protect them and their loved ones from the flu. As people gather together for holiday meals and parties, they’re more likely to spread illness around. Receiving the flu vaccine will help everyone stay healthy to enjoy all the festivities.

This is especially important during family gatherings that infants, those with chronic diseases, or elderly individuals might attend. Infants younger than six months of age are not old enough to receive the influenza vaccine, so they are at a higher risk of catching the flu from someone else and they have the highest chance of being hospitalized if they get ill. Anyone with flu-like symptoms during the holidays must stay home and away from others.

Memorials were recently received by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation in memory of Dale Rademaker by Ann Rademaker, in memory of John Wilkes by Eric and Stephanie Palmer, and in memory of R. Neal Downing by Dave and Gail Prestemon and Bob and Marilyn Bulman.

In addition, a donation was received from the Alice Hermeier Foundation by Dr. Richard Hermeier.

Memorials are appreciated by the Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation. The Foundation is a 501C3 organization. All donations to the Foundation are tax deductible. Memorials and donations can be sent to Veterans Memorial Health Care Foundation, 40 First Street SE, Waukon, IA  52172.
 

Veterans Memorial Hospital will begin the next Prepared Childbirth Education classes (formerly called Lamaze) Monday, January 7, and these classes will continue for two more consecutive Monday evenings beginning at 6 p.m. in the hospital’s Large Conference Room.

The Prepared Childbirth Education classes at Veterans Memorial Hospital are offered in three sessions that allow the expectant parents to choose which topics they wish to learn more on. They may choose to attend one, two or all three sessions. Session 1 covers labor, delivery and the postpartum period following delivery; Session 2 includes relaxation, breathing and pain management; and Session 3 covers infant care. Tours of the OB Department are available with each session as well.