Havener, Lonnie Joe 1966-2012

HAVENER, BENDER, WILLEY, FELDPAUSCH

Posted By: Ruth Maring - VOLUNTEER
Date: 5/17/2012 at 21:37:22

Lonnie Joe Havener, 46, of DeWitt, Iowa, passed away peacefully in his home early Thursday morning, May 17, 2012, surrounded by his family after a courageous battle with cancer.

Lonnie was also known to those who loved him as “Pops”, “LJ”, “the Lonster”, “Lon”, and “Joe”. There may be more that he was referred to by his friends at work. Hopefully, they will be able to share some of those with us.

Lonnie survived for a year after being diagnosed with well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas that spread to his liver and ultimately took his life. This is a very rare type of cancer, which is even rarer to be found in the pancreas. There are six medical facilities in the United States that treat this cancer. We were very fortunate to have one facility very close to our home at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. They provided excellent care, and we would highly recommend them to anyone diagnosed with this type of cancer.

Visitation for Lonnie will take place at Schultz Funeral Home in DeWitt, on Sunday, May 17, 2012 from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. As per Lonnie and Michele’s wishes, no funeral service will be held. Lonnie has been cremated and will stay near and dear to his wife forever.

Lonnie was born on February 14, 1966 (yes, Valentine’s Day), at DeWitt Community Hospital. He is the middle child of three children born to Don and Connie Havener.

Lonnie and Michele (Bender) were united in marriage on September, 26, 1987, at Grace Lutheran Church in DeWitt. If Lonnie were able to hang on a few months later, we would have made our 25th wedding anniversary this year. The song that we picked for our wedding was “Time in a Bottle” by Jim Croce. It has seemed a very fitting song throughout our life together. We both consider it “our song”. If you have a chance to listen to it, please do. It is beautiful.

Lonnie and Michele became the proud parents of Taylor John Havener on January 1, 1989, at the DeWitt Community Hospital. Yes, he was a New Year’s baby and the best looking baby in the nursery (sorry Patricia). There has not been a day that has gone by that we do not treasure him as a gift to us. Taylor has brought nothing but happiness and joy to our lives. We are so proud of him. He has been so good in supporting “Pops” through this hard journey in our lives.

Lonnie graduated from the Central Community School District in 1985. He went on to get a two-year degree in Auto Mechanics at Scott Community College. He put these skills to work at Frank Corson’s Standard Station and Dennis Bauer’s Repair Shop in DeWitt. Lonnie was hired by Alcoa in 1990 and officially retired on May 1, 2012. Lonnie was sad when he was no longer able to work at Alcoa, but many of his coworkers have kept in touch. This helped to keep him in the “loop” and feel like he was still part of the Alcoa community. It’s funny how much you want to work once you are told you are no longer able.

Lonnie’s favorite hobby was spent working on his 1935 Chevy Coupe along with the time that he spent with Taylor doing “car stuff”. He really enjoyed this car and hopes to pass it along to Taylor. We have attended three Good Guys tours to Columbus, Ohio, in the past few years. We meet up with a group of car enthusiasts from as far away as California, New York, and even Australia, and travel the long way around to Columbus stopping on side trips along the way. It is always a fun trip. All the people are so nice. Taylor also loves cars. He restored a 1970 Camaro from top to bottom and ended up selling it. Taylor is currently working on a 1953 Pontiac Chiefton wagon and a custom made motorcycle. Old cars run in the Havener blood line as Don, Scott, and Shawn all own their own.

Family members left to honor Lonnie and carry on his legacy are his wife, Michele, and favorite son, Taylor; his parents, Don and Connie Havener of DeWitt; his brothers Scott (Renae) Havener of DeWitt and Shawn (Shelly) Havener of Marion, Iowa; his grandmother, Helen “Lucille” Willey of New London, Iowa; his mother-law-in Jean Bender of DeWitt and his much loved sister-in-law, Jennifer Bender of Marion. Lonnie also has five nieces and one nephew that he will miss dearly: Sara (Jeremy) Feldpausch, Megan, Marc, Morgan, Devin, and Maya. Lonnie also has a great-nephew, Gavin Feldpausch.

Lonnie, Taylor, and I could not have made it through this difficult time without the help of family and friends. The help with yard work, cooking, and running errands, not to mention all of the encouragement, have all not gone unnoticed. A dozen life times spent would never repay these people. We have also had exceptional doctors and nurses that have helped us along the way. The nurses at Iowa Cancer Specialists are tops in our books.

Lonnie was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Wes Willey, paternal grandfather, Orin Havener; and his paternal grandmother, Opal Bruere-Havener and Carrol Smith-Havener.

At the visitation, we are going to have a box set up that we would like your help in filling. I would appreciate it if you could come up with a special memory of Lonnie that you would be willing to write down so that Michele and Taylor can share these as time passes on down the road. It does not have to be anything fancy. No special note paper. Just write something on a note pad and bring it to the visitation or send it to Michele at 2603 240th Street, DeWitt IA 52742. We will have note pads at the visitation that you could also use. These memories will help us in the future as Taylor gets married and starts a family of his own so that we can pass Lonnie’s legacy down to the daughter-in-law and grandchildren that he will never be able to meet.

Memorials may be made to the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center for cancer research at the University of Iowa.