U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
Leonard Koziol
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA - Leonard Anthony Koziol, 49, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, formerly of Cedar Rapids, died Friday, Sept. 29, 2000, at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs following an accident.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids. The Rev. Ralph Steffensmeier will officiate. Burial will be in the Parish Cemetery. Military rites will be conducted by Dan Cox American Legion Post No. 44.
Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Levander Funeral Home in Cedar Rapids. A rosary will be held at 7 p.m. at the church. Visitation will resume at 8:30 a.m. Monday at the funeral home.
Mr. Koziol was born June 29, 1951, at Cedar Rapids to Karl and Theresa (Tworek) Koziol. He attended elementary school at St. Anthony's Parochial School and graduated from Cedar Rapids High School in 1969. He attended Platte Community College in Columbus and graduated in 1971.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army on Oct. 18, 1971 and graduated with honors from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif., in December 1972. He also studied voice interception at Goodfellow Air Force Security School in Texas and at the A.S.A. Training Center and school at Ft. Devens, Mass., before being sent to Augsburg, Germany.
While in Germany he went on an Alpspitz mountain-climbing expedition with the German Army and received a bronze medal in a German marksmanship event. He was honorable discharged from the Army in October 1974 and spent the following year farming with his dad. He resumed his studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in August 1975.
Mr. Koziol was a member of Sacred Heart Church in Lincoln, the American Legion, the University of Nebraska Wildlife Club, Century Club, Waschiska Audobon Society, Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club, East Campus Club, the Lincoln Track Club, and the agricultural fraternities of Alph Zeta and Gamma Sigma Delta. He served with the National Guard before joining the Lincoln Army Reserve Headquarters Company and Fifth Brigade as a staff sergeant.
He worked with the Game and Parks Commission as a wildlife biologist. On Jan. 25, 1979, he was injured in an accident while doing an aerial deer survey. He was hospitalized at Jennie Edmundson Hospital at Council Bluffs, Iowa, in a special care facility until his death.
He is survived by his mother; and three brothers, Kenneth of Lincoln, Andrew of Fullerton, and John of Cedar Rapids.
He was preceded in death by his father; infant twin sisters, Carolyn and Cathryn; his grandparents; and an infant niece.
Henry Stange
CAIRO -- Henry A. Stange, 87, of Cairo, died Saturday, Sept. 30, 2000, at the Lakeview Nursing Home in Grand Island.
Funeral arrangements are pending with Apfel Funeral Home in Cairo.
Dean Claar
PETERSBURG -- Dean Harold Claar, 79, of Petersburg, died Saturday, Sept. 29, 2000, at the Wolf Memorial Good Samaritan Home in Albion.
Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, at St. John's Catholic Church in Petersburg. Father Frank Baumert will officiate. Burial will be in the parish cemetery.
Visitation will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday at Levander Funeral Home in Albion, 7 p.m. at the church in Petersburg with an 8 p.m. wake service, and Tuesday morning from 8:30 a.m. until the service at the church.
Levander Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Ellen Gibbons
90, Retired Deputy Hall County Assessor
Ellen M. Gibbons, 90, of Grand Island died Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Livingston-Sondermann Funeral Home. The Rev. Jack Rademacher will officiate. Burial will be in the Grand Island City Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home.
Memorials are suggested to St. Leo's Catholic Church.
Mrs. Gibbons was born March 24, 1911, at Fullerton to Henry and Anna (Wilkens) Frenzen. She attended school in rural Hall County and graduated from Grand Island Senior High School. She then worked for Losey Sign Company.
She married
Paul A. Gibbons on April 28, 1937, at Grand Island. She worked for Woolworth Stores for a few years and then worked in the Hall County Assessor's Office. She was later named deputy assessor and retired from that position in 1976.
She had lived at Bickford Cottage (Sterling House) since 1999. She enjoyed playing cards and dining with friends. She was a charter member of St. Leo's Catholic Church.
Survivors include one nephew and his wife, Don and Sondra Niemoth of Grand Island.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 1968 and a sister, Elsie (Mrs. Oscar) Niemoth.
John Plautz
John Fredrick Plautz, 84, of Grand Island died Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 at his home.
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Gollaher Chapel at Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Island. The Revs. Onamae Waddel and Jim Keyser will officiate.
Visitation will be prior to service time at the church.
Memorials are suggested to Trinity United Methodist Church.
Apfel-Butler-Geddes Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Plautz was born April 24, 1917, at Merrill, Wis., to John and Laura (Engels) Plautz. He attended school in Merrill, graduating from Merrill Senior High where he excelled in sports.
He married
June Freiberg in 1940 at Merrill. She preceded him in death.
He married
Fay D. Verna on March 24, 1974, in Grand Island. The couple lived in Grand Island where he worked at Fairacres Dairy and later Chicago (Century) Lumber. He retired in 1982.
He was a member of Trinity United Methodist Church. He enjoyed coaching little league baseball, woodworking, gardening, hunting, fishing and playing cards.
Survivors include his wife, Fay Plautz of Grand Island; four sons, John W. Plautz of Lakewood, Colo., James K. Plautz of Rapid City, S.D., Joel F. Plautz of Grand Island and Jeff L. Plautz of Amarillo, Texas; one daughter, Jane E. Dreher of Redlands, Calif., one stepson, Gene Verna of Kansas City, Kan.; two stepdaughters, Beverly Overbeck of Lebanon, Ore., and Debbie Fette of Lincoln; 12 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; a brother, Arthur Plautz of Merrill, Wis.; and two sisters, Hazel Maas of Wausau, Wis., and Vera Vonderhied of Minocqua, Wis.
He was preceded in death by his two wives; one brother, Ellsworth Plautz; and three sisters, Lillian Schult, Mertle Zastrow and Ila Plautz.
Charles Peterson
LOUP CITY -- Charles W. Peterson, 91, of Loup City died Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001, at St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island.
There will be no services. Mr. Peterson was cremated and a private burial will be held later in the Evergreen cemetery in Loup City.
Memorials are suggested to the Loup City Community Center Building Fund, Loup City BallPark Fund or the donor's choice.
Peters Funeral Home of Loup City is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Peterson was born Sept. 16, 1910, to Charles J. and Wilhelmina (Dahmke) Peterson, on a farm east of Loup City where the Sherman Dam is now located. He attended Sherman County rural school until the family moved to a farm south of Loup City where he graduated from Wiggle Creek High School.
He farmed for a few years until taking a job with the Union Pacific Railroad riding the route from Grand Island to North Platte.
He married
Mildred I. Lyhne on June 24, 1942, at Loup City. The couple lived in Grand Island. Mr. Peterson worked as a brakeman and later as a freight conductor. Due to an eye injury, he was transferred to an office position in Omaha, where the couple lived for 16 years. In 1975, he retired from Union Pacific after 41 years of service. The couple then moved to the Lyhne family farm south of Loup City.
He enjoyed hard work and country life.
He was a member of the United Transportation Union No. 268 of North Platte, the Union Pacific Old Timers Club No. 16 of Grand Island, the National Association of Retired and Veterans Railway Employees, Fraternal Order of Eagles Aerie No. 378 of Grand Island, Saddle Club, Sherman County Historical Society, Sherman County Farm Bureau and a member of Lexington radio station K.R.V.N.
Survivors include his wife.
He was preceded in death by one sister, Violet Obermiller, and one brother, Raymond Peterson.
Rosalia Klein
PLEASANTON -- Rosalia M. Klein, 78, of Pleasanton died Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Church in Pleasanton. The Rev. Lou Nollette will officiate. Burial will be in the Pleasanton Cemetery. A wake service will be at 7 p.m. Sunday at the church.
Rasmussen Mortuary in Ravenna is in charge of arrangements.
Mrs. Klein was born June 13, 1923, on a farm southwest of Pleasanton to Andrew and Margaret (Schram) Schuller. She attended District 26 School in Fairmont through the eighth grade and Kearney High School her freshman year. She then transferred to Pleasanton High School and graduated in 1940.
She obtained a professional teaching certificate from Kearney State Teachers College. She taught at Peak School west of Pleasanton for one year and Pleasant Hill School south of Pleasanton for one year. She then worked for North Western Bell Telephone Company in Kearney and for the Peter Kewiett Company at the Kearney Air Base.
She married
Harold E. Klein on Jan. 31, 1946, in Pleasanton. The couple lived in an apartment above the old post office in Pleasanton, where they bought the hardware store. The couple ran Klein Hardware until Mr. Klein died in 1960.
She worked for the General Telephone Company in Kearney and later operated a drive inn east of the Pleasanton State Bank for a number of years. She sold Dekalb seed corn from her garage. She worked part of the 1970s as a bookkeeper for the Farmers Union and then in the insurance department of the Good Samaritan Hospital until her retirement in 1985.
She was a member of St. Mary's Altar Society, the American Legion Auxiliary, the Jolly Time Senior Citizens and the Friendly Neighbor Club.
Survivors include two sons and daughters-in-law, Wayne and Dayle Klein of Loup City and Earl and Pam Klein of Pleasanton; one daughter, LaDonna Iltzsch of Grand Island; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and one sister, Margaret Halsey of Hastings.
She was preceded in death by her husband; one daughter, Eileen; one sister, Lorraine Stubbs; and one brother, Ralph Schmitz.
