Voss, Louis "Freddie" (1928-2012)
VOSS, PORATH, PETERSON, ERIE, SCHROEDER, LARSEN, BREON
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 8/11/2012 at 22:05:29
Louis "Freddie" Voss
October 09, 1928 - July 18, 2012Fonda, Iowa
The family of Louis “Freddie” Wayne Voss is proud to celebrate the life of an extraordinary man. Freddie passed into the presence of the Lord on July 18, 2012.
He took his first breath at his family home in Cedar Township, Pocahontas County, Iowa, south of Varina on October 9, 1928, the son of Bill and Edla Porath Voss. He attended the Varina Consolidated School until his father asked him to help on the family farm.
Freddie was drafted into the Army on February 20, 1951. Stationed in Germany, he served his country during the Korean War. He was honorably discharged in February of 1953.
He returned to the family farm and later married the love of his life, Gayla Margene Peterson, on August 2, 1959, in Newell.
Freddie always loved the farm and started working with his family at an early age. An extraordinarily hard worker, he enjoyed every minute of it. He had fifty brown Swiss dairy cows, all of which, with persistence, produced Grade A milk. Then, he went back to raising beef cattle and hogs. He dearly loved his cow/calf herd.
Three sons made Freddie’s family complete. A strong man, he led his children with love and a quiet faith. His sons enjoyed working alongside him as much as he enjoyed working with them. They worked cattle, did chores, walked beans, and put up acres of hay together. After a hard day’s work, they would take time to play, ride horses, and go to the saddle club together. Having grown up next to Sunken Grove, Freddie also enjoyed trapping and taught his sons to trap. Having made God the center of their lives, they always attended church together. He and Gayla taught their sons the importance of character and hard work and were proud of their accomplishments.
Freddie also enjoyed helping others. He took his draft horses and helped at the Albert City Threshermen Shows until his health declined. He also commemorated traditional farming methods by volunteering with his draft horses at the Wiegert Prairie Farmstead. For a number of years, he and the family would give weekly covered wagon rides at the Twin Lakes Bible Camp.
Freddie raised and broke draft horses, first with his father and brother and then with his wife and sons. He enjoyed working the gentle beasts and, if given a chance, would rather take a team of draft horses to the field than a tractor. He also had a love for raising good cattle and had a reputation for topping the market on sale day, making the family proud.
Quiet and shy, Freddie preferred staying home on the farm with his family. He loved the land on which he was born and saw himself as a steward of the soil. He rotated his crops, always having fields of alfalfa, making the soils loose and fertile. His goal was to leave the land better than when he started. His caring ways can best be demonstrated by recounting how he farmed. Whenever he disked, cultivated, or mowed hay, he would raise the implement he was pulling to go around any pheasants, ducks, or killdeer, never wanting to harm them. He was a gentle man with a soft heart.
Freddie and Gayla were inseparable and were devoted partners for nearly fifty-three years. He provided a constant source of inspiration to his wife, children, and those who knew him. Grateful for his life, he took one day at a time, always giving joy to others even as his body grew weaker. His never-give-up attitude, giving strength to his family, amazed everyone.
In years gone by, Freddie had been a member of the Pocahontas County Historical Society, the Albert City Threshermen, and the Wiegert Prairie Farmstead, and he participated in the Buena Vista County Saddle Club and the Fonda Saddle Club. He was a member of the Newell Bethel Baptist Church and the Varina Legion W.D. Steiner Post. Failing health, however, kept him from many favored activities for some time before his passing.
Those preceding Freddie in death included his parents, William and Edla (Porath) Voss; three siblings who died in infancy, Raymond, Marjorie, and Lois; and a sister, Helen (Voss) Erie. Also preceding him in death were his father- and mother-in-law, Gladwin and Thelma Schroeder Peterson; and his brothers-in-law, Lyle Peterson, Don Larsen, and Louis Erie.
Left to cherish his memory is his wife of fifty-three years. Left to carry on his legacy are his sons Steven (Kendra) Voss, of Hannibal, Missouri, William (Laurie) Voss, of Fonda, Iowa, and Rodney (Wendy) Voss, of Huron, South Dakota; his grandchildren: Caleb, Beth, Zachary, Nathanael, Adam, Abby, Nikolas, and Matthew Voss; and his two great-grandsons, Colton and Stetson Voss. Surviving siblings include his brother, Milton (Karen) Voss, of Fonda, and his sister, Marie (Donald) Breon, of Fonda, as well as many nephews and nieces and a sister-in-law, Sue Peterson, of Kettering, Ohio.
Visitation: 5:00-7:00 p.m., July 20, 2012, at Bethel Baptist Church in Newell, Iowa.
Funeral Service: 10:00 a.m., July 21, 2012, at Bethel Baptist Church in Newell, Iowa.
Interment: July 21, 2012 at Varina Cemetery in Varina, Iowa.Copyright © 2012, Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Homes
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Buena Vista Obituaries maintained by LaVern Velau.
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