Degen, Robert G. 1926-2007

DEGEN, SCHILMOELLER, JACKLEY

Posted By: Mary Holub, volunteer (email)
Date: 3/11/2008 at 22:20:38

GRANVILLE, Iowa -- Robert G. Degen, 81, of Granville died Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, at Orange City Health Systems in Orange City, Iowa.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Granville, with the Revs. Richard D. Ball, Jerome Degen and Richard Frank officiating. Burial will be in St. Joseph Cemetery. Visitation will be after 4 p.m. Friday, with a parish rosary at 5 p.m. and a vigil prayer service at 7:30 p.m. followed by a Knights of Columbus rosary, all at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Fisch Funeral Home in Remsen, Iowa.

Robert was born July 7, 1926, in rural Geddes, S.D., the son of Henry Lorenz and Elisabeth Josephine (Schilmoeller) Degen. He moved with his family to near Eagle Grove, Iowa, in about 1930. In 1934, after the death of his father, they moved to near Granville. He was educated until the 11th grade and graduated from St. Mary's High School in Remsen, Iowa, in 1944. In July 1945, he entered the U.S. Army, stationed at White Sands Proving Grounds, Las Cruces, N.M. He was discharged in October 1948. He attended Morningside College in Sioux City from 1949 to 1951. He then was a farm laborer near Bigalow, Minn.

On April 21, 1951, he married Camilla Jackley in Ashton, Iowa. They were engaged in farming near Bigalow until 1952, then near Elkton, S.D. until December 1957, when they moved to near Whittemore, Iowa. In 1959, they moved to near Burt, Iowa, in 1969 to near Le Verne, Iowa, and in January 1971 to a farm near Granville. They moved into Granville in December 1993.

He was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, the church choir, Knights of Columbus, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion Post 95 of Paullina, Iowa, and a former member of the board of directors of the Farmer's Co-op of Granville and Paullina. He took leadership roles in his church and community, helping to initiate the parish Annual Diocesan Appeal in Granville, St. Joseph's annual summer church festival and the merger of the grade schools of the clustered parishes into the Spalding School System, where he was president of the St. Joseph's Grade School board. He was an avid blood donor.

Survivors include his wife, Camilla; a daughter and her husband, Mary and Guy Henery of Omaha and their three children, Eric, Alex and Andrea; a daughter and her husband, Joan and Kevin Lindenstein of Gibbon, Neb. and their three children, Joshua and his wife, Kristin, Kristen and her husband, Mark Schnell and Alex; a son and his wife, Larry and Mary Degen of Red Wing, Minn. and their two daughters, Laura and Elisabeth; a son and his wife, Gregg and Christa Degen of El Cajon, Calif., and their four children, Eva Lynch, Daniel Lynch and his two children, Dakota and Serenity, Mark and Mathew Degen; a daughter and her husband, Susan and Anthony Plaza of Omaha and their four children, Anthony, Kathryne, Mary Beth and John; a daughter and her husband, Jane and Anthony Orlando of St. Louis, Mo., and their daughter, Sophia; a son and his wife, Paul and Veronica Degen of Urbandale, Iowa and their four children, Michael, Madeline, Maria and Sarah; a son and his wife, Dale and Melissa Degen of

Longmont, Colo., and their two children, Ashley and Samuel; two sisters, Marion Fuchsen of Algona, Iowa, and Florence Goff of Sioux City; three brothers, William and his wife, Anita of Algona, Iowa, Donald and his wife, Ann of Bancroft, Iowa, and the Rev. Jerome Degen of Fort Dodge, Iowa; and a sister-in-law, Virginia Degen of Holstein, Iowa.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a sister and her husband, Esther and Vincent Lombardo; a brother, Leonard; and two brothers-in-law, Lester Fuchsen and James Goff.

Pallbearers will be Eric Henery, Joshua Lindenstein, Elisabeth Degen, Alex Lindenstein, Mathew Degen and Anthony Plaza.

~Source: The Sioux City Journal, Sept. 13, 2007