Henry Clarence Sporleder

SPORLEDER, PATTEN, BEDFORD, JACOBS

Posted By: Dale Sporleder (email)
Date: 4/2/2007 at 18:29:07

Henry Sporleder, 74, of Lake City, died March 19, 2006, at home. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM Wednesday at Pilgrim Lutheran Church in Lake City with the Reverend Erland Asmus officiating. Visitation will be Tuesday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 PM with a prayer service at 7. Henry Clarence Sporleder, son of Ernest and Martha Patten Sporleder, was born May 31, 1931, on a farm near Lake City. He was baptized into the Lutheran faith and confirmed on May 13, 1945 at First Lutheran Church in Fonda, Iowa. He attended rural schools in Carroll and Calhoun counties, graduating form Fonda High School in 1949. He attended Iowa State University, leaving to join the Air Force in 1951, from which he was discharged in 1955 after completing pilot training. He attended Santa Ana Community College in Santa Ana, California where he was elected president of the student body, graduating with an Associate of Arts degree. After college, he worked as a pilot for a non-profit corporation. He married Jennifer Bedford on February 11, 1967, in Pasadena, California. The couple made their home in Tucson, Arizona, later moving to Fonda, Iowa where they farmed. They returned to Tucson where Henry was employed as an electrician with Magma Copper Company. The couple retired to Lake City in 1999 to be closer to family. Henry enjoyed gardening, photography, traveling, hunting and camping. He planted over one hundred trees on their acreage near Lake City. He and his wife hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon twice after retirement. Henry was an avid fan of the University of Arizona basketball team. He was an active member of the Pilgrim Lutheran Church and the American Legion. He will be remembered for his warmth and gentle wit. Survivors include his wife Jennifer; his sons, Henry Michael of Lake City and Dirck Allen of Tucson, Arizona; brothers Elmer and his wife Mary of Auburn, Dale and his wife Linda of Carmel, Indiana and Duane and his wife Deborah of Lake City; sister Ann and her husband Rev. Robert Jacobs of Ormond Beach, Florida. He was preceded in death by his parents.
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