GAGE, Howard Eugene

GAGE, STOCKBRIDGE, WALLSKOG, MARSH, MURPHY, GROSLAND, FAIRBAULT, BERNER, RAY

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 3/30/2018 at 15:06:20

Obituary ~ Howard Eugene Gage
March 17, 1914 ~ June 28, 2010

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Wednesday, July 01, 2010

MASON CITY - Howard Eugene Gage, 96, of Mason City passed away Monday (June 28, 2010) at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa, after a short illness.

Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Friday, July 2, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 329 E. State St., with the Rev. Sid Bohls officiating. Interment will be in Elmwood-St. Joseph Cemetery. Military rites will be conducted by the Mason City Veterans Memorial Association. Visitation will be two hours prior to services at St. Paul Lutheran Church. Memorials may be directed to St. Paul Lutheran Church.

Howard was born March 17, 1914, in Iowa City, to Ada Fredericka (Anderson) Gage and Edgar Stockbridge Gage. Shortly after, his family moved to Mason City, where he spent the rest of his life. He graduated from Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanics with a BS in general engineering in June 1937. After graduation, he worked in his father's accounting firm, Edgar S. Gage and Son. Howard was drafted into the Army in May 1941. He went to Camp Claiborne, La., for basic training with the 34th Division.

While home on leave he married Ethel Cathlyn Margaret Wallskog on Oct. 30, 1941, in Mason City and shortly afterward returned to duty. He was sent to Fort Dix, N.J., then out with the first contingent to Europe in January 1942. They landed in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. In Ireland he was transferred to the Fifth Corps, Finance Section, and was first sent to Belfast, Northern Ireland, then to Bristol, England, in June 1942, where he became a master sergeant. On June 12, they boarded a boat for Normandy Beach. After slow advance, they reached Paris the day after it was liberated by French troops under de Gaulle. They moved north and east, living in tents until they reached the town of St. Vith in eastern Belgium, just north of the Battle of the Bulge. Howard went home on leave for 30 days and upon returning landed at LeHavre, France., on V.E. Day. His division was transported through France, Belgium and Germany and ended up in Pilson, Czechoslovakia. He was honorably discharged in May 1945.

After the war, Howard returned to work in his father's accounting firm. He received his CPA in August 1964, and worked until retirement in the McGladry, Hanson, Dunn and Gage firm. He served as treasurer for the Exchange Club for many years. He attended St. Paul Lutheran Church from 1962 until his death, and served as their treasurer for approximately 17 years.

Howard was an avid golfer in his retirement years and spent many happy hours golfing with his friends at Highland Park golf course in Mason City. A golfing highlight for Howard was playing several famous British courses, including Royal Lytham and St. Annes and the Old Course in St. Andrews in Scotland while visiting his daughter and family who resided in England from 1978 to 1980. He met weekly for coffee with his golfing buddies for many years (even long after his golfing days), something he greatly enjoyed.

Howard and his wife, Ethel, liked to travel and made two trips to England to visit their daughter, Maggie, and her family, a trip to Juneau, Alaska, to visit their son, Jim, and numerous trips throughout the United States. During this time they visited every state except Hawaii.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Ethel (Wallskog); father and mother; daughter, Margaret Ann Marsh, and brother, Edgar S. Gage.

Howard is survived by brothers, Clarke Lyman Gage (Jane) of Canton, N.Y.; Don Joseph Gage (Patsy) of Palestine, Texas; sister, Rosemary Murphy (Phil) of Madelia, Minn.; daughter, Ada Kristine Grosland (Ron), of Austin, Minn.; son, James Howard Gage (Kathy), of Juneau, Alaska; son, Peter Eugene Gage (Debra), of Firestone, Colo.; son-in-law, Dennis Marsh and his wife, Nancy, of Mason City; grandchildren, Andrew Grosland, Spearfish, S.D.; Kristine Grosland, Boulder, Colo.; Matthew Grosland (Samantha), Hendersonville, Tenn.; Molly Marsh, Washington, D.C.; Mindy Ray (Dan) of Faribault, Minn.; Sean Gage, Denver, Colo.; Morgen Obersinner-Gage, Edmonds, Wash.; Levi Berner, Portland, Ore.; and Logan Berner, Bellingham, Wash.; great-grandchildren: Ellie, Tim, Leah, Hannah and Claire Ray; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Arrangements with Major Erickson Funeral Home & Crematory, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Mason City, 641-423-0924.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.majorericksonfuneralhome.com.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2018