Randy Vonderhaar,

VONDERHAAR

Posted By: cheryl moonen (email)
Date: 3/9/2015 at 10:58:37

Gazette, The (Cedar Rapids-Iowa City, IA) - Friday, December 8, 1995

Randy Vonderhaar, The last 13 years of Randy Vonderhaar's life were mostly miserable, so his sudden and mysterious death Wednesday in Holy Cross has his family wondering why some people always seem to be dealt a poor hand.

"What Randy got out of life was nothing," said his father, Leonard Vonderhaar of Holy Cross.

A neighbor found Vonderhaar, 37, lying dead on the ground outside his mobile home door. It is believed Vonderhaar had been dead for several hours before his body was discovered at 10:30 a.m.

The Clayton County Medical Examiner's Office, which performed the autopsy, said the death was caused by past medical complications. (See obituary, 2B.)

Leonard Vonderhaar said he didn't know what that meant and said he was told by the medical examiner that his son likely suffered a heart attack when he fell down his trailer steps.

THE CLAYTON County Sheriff's Department ruled out foul play and said alcohol was not found in Randy Vonderhaar's body.

In any case, his father said, Vonderhaar's death was simply the final ending to a rough chapter in his life.

Thirteen years ago, Vonderhaar lost his left arm in a logging accident. A year later, he got divorced. After that, he was hospitalized for six months when he was in a serious car accident.

His brother, Steve Vonderhaar of Holy Cross, said Randy, "was pronounced dead three times" when he was hospitalized in the car accident.

His string of bad luck seemed to erode Vonderhaar's spirit, his family said. The car accident left him disabled. He had a difficult time walking and could not work.

"Before all that, Randy was a real outdoorsman," said his brother. "He loved to hunt and fish. He was always outside."

Leonard Vonderhaar said he is thankful, however, that his son apparently did not suffer before he died.

"I asked the (medical examiner) if he struggled at all and they said he didn't," Leonard Vonderhaar said. He said Randy was the second of four sons who has died.

Fifteen years ago, Leonard Vonderhaar said, he lost his son, Jim, when he slipped while running with a shot gun. He accidentally shot himself in the head."

Author: Rita Seymour
Edition: Final
Page: 4
Copyright (c) 1995, Gazette Communications, Inc.