Martin F. Bohlke 1919-2005

BOHLKE, OSTERHAUS, SCHMITZ, LOVEJOY, WERNER, ANDERSON, GOERDT, MOORE, WILLENBORG

Posted By: cheryl moonen (email)
Date: 3/30/2018 at 08:00:30

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) - Saturday, January 22, 2005

DYERSVILLE, Iowa - Martin F. Bohlke, 86, of Dyersville, died Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005, at Good Neighbor Home, Manchester, following a long illness.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Monday at St. Francis Xavier Basilica, Dyersville. Burial will be in St. Francis Cemetery, Dyersville, where military rites will be accorded by the American Legion Post 137, of Dyersville. Friends may call from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Kramer Funeral Home, Dyersville, where members of the American Legion Post 137 will gather at 7 p.m.

Mr. Bohlke worked in the insurance business since 1953.

He was born on Jan. 20, 1919, in Petersburg, son of Henry and Anna (Osterhaus) Bohlke. He married Mary Esther Schmitz on Oct. 7, 1944, in Dyersville; she preceded him in death in 1984.

He served in World War II for four years, receiving the Purple Heart, Combat Infantrman's Badge, two Bronze Stars and attaining the rank of 1st Sergeant.

For many years, he was a coach of Little League and grade school basketball and was on the chain gang for Beckman High School football.

He was an associate of the Dyersville Police Department for more than 30 years, a member of the City Council for 11 years, served as Mayor Pro-Tem for seven years, was a retired member of the Dyersville Fire Department, where he served as assistant chief, was an usher at St. Francis Xavier Basilica and was a 60-year member of American Legion Post 137.

Surviving are three sons, William (Tonia) Bohlke, of San Antonio, Texas, Jay (Debie) Bohlke, of Chandler, Ariz., and M. Joseph (Diana) Bohlke, of Des Moines; a daughter, Mary Beth (Johnny) Lovejoy, of San Antonio; and two daughters-in-law, Cathy (Steve) Werner, of Manchester, and Joy Bohlke, of Houston; 19 grandchildren and a great-grandchild; two sisters, Lola Goerdt, of Dyersville, and Shirley Anderson, of Cherokee; four sisters-in-law, Dr. Jean Ann (Thomas) Moore, of Carmel, Calif., Phyllis (Jerry) Green, of Cascade, Dorothy Schmitz, of San Antonio, and Margaret Schmitz, of Dubuque; and a brother-in-law, Phil (Ann) Schmitz, of Dyersville.

He also was preceded in death by two sons, David and Robert; and two sisters, Charlotte Goerdt and Joan Willenborg.

Online condolences may be left at www.kramerfuneral.com.