VARCE, Paul Henry

VARCE, BROWN, ERNEST

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 11/5/2007 at 20:57:24

Cherokee Chronicle Times, Friday, November 2, 2007

Rev. Paul Henry Varce, 86, of Cherokee, died on Oct. 24, 2007 at the Careage Hills Nursing Home in Cherokee. Funeral services were held on Saturday Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. at the Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene in Waverly.

Burial was at the Dumont Cemetery in Dumont.

Paul was born on April 11, 1921 at Garwin, Iowa to parents Rev. Harry and Clara (Brown) Varce. He attended high school at Bristow, graduating in 1938. He was converted at the age of 16 and was called to preach at age 19.

He attended Kletzing College at University Park and took many correspondence courses. He began pastoring in 1940 and was ordained in August of 1953, in Des Moines. He was a member of Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene in Waverly at the time of his death.

On Oct. 8, 1948 he was united in marriage to Eleanor Ernest at Burlington, Colorado. He pastored churches in Iowa, Kansas and South Dakota. One of his first pastorates during the early 1940's was the United Brethren Church at Grand Meadow near Cherokee.

He and his family moved to Waverly in 1970 and remained there until 2006 when they moved to Cherokee to be close to family. He could readily draw form memory passages of Scripture, which he learned in childhood. He so ably ministered to the discouraged, bereaved, shut-ins and was always concerned over the lost.

Consequently, he was a great soul winner and dynamic preacher of the Gospel. He was also a great man of prayer and a dedicated servant of the Lord in doing God's will in his own life and helping others find God's will for their lives. He always enjoyed calling on his church members and friends, along with making hospital calls.

After retirement in 1986, he continued to supply preaching in several churches. He also enjoyed hunting, fishing, playing softball, and ping-pong, along with gardening.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his sister Artheda and her husband Vernon.

He is survived by his wife, Eleanor of Cherokee; one daughter, Carol and her husband, Osvaldo along with their two sons Jonathan and Justin of Severance Colo.; one son, Dwight and his wife Bonnie along with their two sons, Quinton and Brett of Cherokee; step-granddaughter Jennifer and her husband Scott along with their two children, Seth and Leah of Urbandale; step-grandson Paul with his wife Coree and their two daughters Shelby and Caitlyn of Colorado Springs, Colo. He also leaves three sisters Pauline, Marjorie and Naomi Varce of Des Moines; two brother, Rev. Harold Varce and his wife, Virginia of Des Moines; Donald Varce and his wife, Irene of Portland, Ore.; also a number of nieces, nephews, cousins along with a host of friends.