HOLLATZ, Wilbur J. (1912-1998)

HOLLATZ, BOHN, ALBERS, DEGROOTE, SCHOENWETTER, HARMS, LEMKE, TOPPIN, REED, POOLE

Posted By: Hancock Co Genealogical Society (email)
Date: 8/8/2014 at 15:06:51

Wilbur J. Hollatz

GARNER — Wilbur J. Hollatz, 86, of Mason City, died Tuesday (Sept. 15, 1998) at the I.O.O.F. Home, in Mason City.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 18, 1998, at St. John's Lutheran Church, northeast of Garner, with Pastor Carl Hedberg officiating. Burial will be in St. John's Lutheran Cemetery, near Garner, with graveside military rites by the Garner Veterans Ceremonial Unit.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Cataldo Funeral Chapel, 160 E. Fourth St., Garner.

Wilbur J. Hollatz, the son of Henry Gustav and Bertha Augusta (Bohn) Hollatz was born Sept. 1, 1912, on a farm north of Clear Lake. He was baptized in October of 1912 and confirmed in April of 1926, at St. John's Lutheran Church.

After attending St. John's Parochial School, he worked for various farmers in the area, at the Ventura Creamery and then as a cream tester at the Farmer's Co-op Creamery in Garner.

He served his country during World War II in the U.S. Army in the 65th Engineering Battalion, being stationed in the South Pacific. After the service he worked as a painter and carpenter.

As a younger man, his hobbies included hunting, fishing, trapping and singing. Due to failing health, he made his home at the I.O.O.F. Home in Mason City.

He was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church, Walther League, sang in the church choir for 25 years and sang in the Mason City Barbershop Chorus for many years. He was active in the Garner V.F.W. where he had served as Commander.

He is survived by six sisters, Edna Albers and her husband, Lubbe, of Clear Lake; Pearl DeGroote and her husband, Darrel, of Corwith; Ethel Schoenwetter, of Klemme; Helen Harms and her husband, Raymond, of Dubuque; Stella Lemke and her husband, Byrnes, of Klemme; and Ardith Toppin and her husband, Wayne, of Ventura; a brother-in-law, Edgar Reed, of Mason City; and many nieces and nephews.

His parents; two brothers, Ellsworth Hollatz and Melvin Hollatz; and two sisters, Alma Reed and Edith Poole preceded him in death.

source: Mason City Globe Gazette, 16 Sep 1998