WILLFORD, Carl Lawrence 1926-1996

WILLFORD, DERR

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 2/20/2010 at 22:34:10

Carl Lawrence Willford

NORA SPRINGS, IOWA -- Carl Lawrence Willford, 69, of Nora Springs, died Tuesday (Dec. 24, 1996) at 26 Fifth St. N.W., Nora Springs.

Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Sheckler Colonial Chapel, Nora Springs, with the Rev. Richard Pippert of United Methodist Church, Nora Springs, officiating. Interment will be in Oakwood Cemetery, Plymouth. Visitation will begin after 4 p.m. today at the funeral home. The family suggests memorials to Hospice of North Iowa.

Carl was born Dec. 27, 1926, in Plymouth, the son of Calvin and Ethel (Derr) Willford. He attended school in Plymouth through his junior year and graduated from Frederick High School, Frederick, S.D., in 1944.

Carl enlisted in the United States Navy Dec. 21, 1944, and was stationed in Guantanimo Naval Base in Cuba, where he served on the maiden voyage of the U.S.S. Macon. He was dischaged on Oct. 25, 1946.

After the service, he went to school to become a radio engineer and an announcer in southern Minnesota and Defiance, Ohio.

He was never afraid to try new and interesting ventures. Among them were, recruiting high school seniors to become airline hostesses; being a professional salesman with time-shares in real estate; building and owning trout ranches in Paw Paw and Hudson, Mich.; and developing Cumberland Mountain retreat in Crossville, Tenn., in the 1960's. Recently he was a co-owner of Pots-R-Us (Indian pottery and artifacts) with his nephew, Vernon Pedelty.

He is survived by three sisters, Doris Tack and her husband, Nile, Plymouth; Reva Pedelty, Nora Springs, and Phyllis Peterson and her husband, Harold, Mandan, N.D.; eight nieces and nephews; and 17 great-nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; stepfather, Charlie Snell; brother-in-law, Harold Pedelty, and an infant sister, Thelma.

Mason City Globe Gazette, 12/26/1996