Lensing, Stanley J. "Stan" 1938-2018

LENSING, SCHRANDT, KRUSE, HART, WARNER, GERDES, RUSSELL, STRUB

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 7/13/2021 at 21:35:35

Stanley J. Lensing
December 5, 1938 ~ January 7, 2018 (age 79)

Stanley Lensing, age 79, of Pella, Iowa passed away peacefully at his home after a long battle with cancer on Sunday, January 7, 2018 surrounded by his loving wife, Marlys, of 54 years and his immediate family.

Stanley (Stan) Jerome Lensing was born December 5, 1938 to Hugo and Mathilda (Schrandt) on the family farm in Festina, Iowa. He attended Catholic school at Our Lady of Seven Dolors in Festina. After school, he served 3 years in the U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in California. On November 27, 1963, Stanley married Marlys Kruse at St Francis de Sales in Ossian, Iowa and to this union two children were born: Dale and Lisa. After his service time, Stan worked for Peter Johnson’s Plumbing and Heating for 14 years in Decorah, Iowa. Later in 1973, he began employment with Decorah Community Schools as Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds for 27 years. He retired in July of 1999.

In March of 1970, they moved to their acreage south of Decorah, Iowa and made this their home for 31 years. In his time, away from his day job, Stan worked as his wife’s right-hand man on her hog operation. While living in Decorah, he developed deep and lifelong friendships with neighbors, Richard and Ethel Stuckman and his coworker and good friends, Marv and Nancy Pankow. Stan had a close and loving bond with his brothers and sisters. Stan and Vince shared a special relationship. He often spoke to Vince up to five times a day to ask about the stock market and visit. Each morning they would call just to check if they both “made it through the night”.

Stan loved spending time with his family and six fun grandchildren. Stan enjoyed cruising the country roads with his “beautiful wife” (Dad’s special name for Mom) by his side. One of his favorite hobbies was to go trout fishing in northeast Iowa; also, he enjoyed doing jigsaw puzzles. Stan could fix anything from a broken bike to repairing a car. Stan was also very artistic from sketches of countryside scenes to pictures and bird houses designed from old barn wood. He was always glad to help with projects at church. Stan would assist with the church environment for Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. He was an unofficial member of the Liturgy committee. One of Stan’s favorite sayings to his wife was “Don’t worry about it. It’s good enough”; he was an easy-going guy. He was a wonderful loving husband, father and grandfather.

In September 2001, Stan and Marlys moved to the Knoxville/Pella area so they could be closer to their kids and grandkids. They had the shell of their house constructed and then finished the interior themselves along with the landscaping. In November of 2014, they moved into Pella, where they currently reside.

Stan is survived by his loving wife, Marlys, his son, Dale (Lisa) Lensing of Otley, Iowa, his daughter, Lisa Hart, of Altoona, Iowa, his six grandchildren, Jonathan, Jacob, Sam, and Jacque Lensing, Ashley (fiancé, Grant Warner) and Andrew Hart, his brother, Vince (Ruth) Lensing, of Decorah, Iowa, and his sisters, Lillian Gerdes of Tuscon, Arizona, Lori Russell of Fairbanks, Alaska, and Judy Lensing of Des Moines, Iowa. He is also survived by a number of cousins, nieces and nephews.

Stan is preceded in death by his father and mother, his sister and brother-in-law, Marie and Jim Strub, his brothers, Gabriel Lensing and James Lensing. ~ The Garden Chapel Funeral Home, Pella, Iowa 07 Jan 2018.