Ohm, Gordon E. 1926-2016

OHM, SCHMIDT

Posted By: Mary L Verburg Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/13/2021 at 20:33:34

Gordon E. Ohm
Gordon Edward Ohm was born on April 20, 1926 in his parent’s Palo Alto County farm home two miles northwest of Fenton, Iowa. He was the son of Edward Carl Ohm and Viola Albertina Ida Schmidt Ohm. He had an older sister, Isabelle, and three years later, in 1929, his younger brother Willard was born. His grandparents, William and Lena Lieb Schmidt and Herman and Maria Behrens Ohm, were pioneers of German descent who settled near Lotts Creek in Kossuth County, Iowa.
Gordon was baptized on May 9, 1926 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fenton. His sponsors were his uncle, Martin Schmidt, and his aunt, Rosa Ohm Schallin. He began his education at a country school northwest of Fenton. In 1933, the family moved to a farm southeast of Ringsted, Iowa and he attended second through fifth grades at the Sunnyside School east of Ringsted. The family moved to a farm between Fenton and Lone Rock in 1937. Gordon started sixth grade at a country school near the farm and then finished sixth grade in Fenton. He attended St. John’s Parochial School in Fenton for his seventh and eighth grade years and was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fenton on May 12, 1940. He began high school in Fenton. In 1943, the family moved into Lone Rock and Gordon attended Lone Rock High School for his senior year, graduating with the Class of 1944.
On September 19, 1944, Gordon enlisted in the U. S. Army, serving his country in World War II. He was a member of K Company 136th Regiment, 33rd Infantry Division, 3rd Battalion Company I, K, L, and M. He was one of the GI’s who waded ashore at San Fabian on the Philippine Island of Luzon on February 10, 1945. Another shore landing was made in New Guinea on the Island of Morotai. After the end of the war, the 33rd Division served in Japan as the Occupation Force in the Osaka and Kobe area. In January, 1946, Gordon reinlisted in the Army of Occupation in Japan and was assigned to Special Services Headquarters of the Eighth Army in Yokohama. He worked for over a year as a manager of the Akakura Hotel, a ski resort in the Japanese mountains, which had been taken over by the army and was used by enlisted men and officers who came for a week of rest and relaxation. He received his Honorable Discharge from the army at Fort Knox, Kentucky on July 7, 1947 and returned home to Lone Rock, coming by train as far as Algona.
He attended Radio School in Omaha, Nebraska and then returned to Lone Rock where he worked as a farm hand for some of his cousins, the Schmidt brothers. In the Fall of 1950, Gordon enrolled in Morningside College in Sioux City. It was there that he met and began dating Gertrude Harriet Draayom, the daughter of Gerrit and Esther Draayom of Sioux City. He graduated from Morningside College with his Bachelors degree in 1953 and began teaching at Union Township Consolidated School southeast of LeMars, Iowa.
Gordon and Gertrude were married on June 2, 1955 at Grace Methodist Church on the campus of Morningside College in Sioux City. They moved to Greeley, Colorado for the summer where Gordon began working on his Masters degree at the University of Northern Colorado. The first year of their marriage, they lived on a farm southeast of LeMars and they both taught at the Union Township School. In 1956, they moved to Oakland, Iowa where Gordon was a teacher, coach, and, later, the high school principal. They continued spending summers in Colorado until Gordon received his Masters degree in 1957. Their son, Michael William Ohm, was born on July 11, 1960 in Harlan, Iowa. In 1961, the family moved to Galva, Iowa where Gordon was superintendent of schools.
The family moved to Avoca, Iowa in 1963 when Gordon became superintendent of the AvoHa Community School District. He oversaw the construction of the new high school which was completed in 1973. He retired in 1988, after serving as superintendent at AvoHa for twenty five years.
He served on the Representative Council of the Iowa High School Boys Athletic Association for thirteen years. He was also a member of the Avoca Rotary Club for many years, serving a term as president, and was a member of the Avoca American Legion. He was a long time member of the United Church of Avoca and had served as an elder of the church. In 1988, he and Gertrude were the recipients of Avoca’s Quality of Life Award.
He enjoyed many trips to southern California to visit his sister Isabelle and, in the later years, to visit her children and grandchildren who were all very special to him.
In 1991, Gordon and Gertrude built a new home on Red Mountain Ranch in the foothills of northeast Mesa, Arizona. He spent many hours landscaping the property himself and enjoyed having his morning coffee while watching the sun rise over Red Mountain. They were active in the Presbyterian Church of the Master in Mesa. Throughout the years, they enjoyed entertaining many friends and relatives at their home.
In the Fall of 2005, they returned to Iowa and moved into their new condominium in Arnolds Park, Iowa where they enjoyed the views of Lake Okoboji and watching the activity at the Arnolds Park Amusement Park. Gordon celebrated his 90th birthday with a party at his home on April 20, 2016. He and Gertrude celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary on June 2, 2016.
Gordon passed away on Sunday, July 10, 2016, at his home in Arnolds Park after a brief illness. Gordon was preceded in death by his mother Viola Ohm in 1973, his father Edward Ohm in 1976, his sister Isabelle Ohm Hanna in 1973, his brother Willard Ohm in 2013, his nephew Allan Hanna in 1955, his father-in-law Gerrit Draayom, Jr. in 1978, his mother-in-law Esther Maris Draayom in 1987, his grandparents, nephew-in-law Harold Toliver, thirteen aunts and uncles, Martin Schmidt, Leona Schmidt Zwiefel, Eleanora Schmidt, Helena Ohm Schmidt, Otto Ohm, August Ohm, Agnes Ohm Mittag, Rosa Ohm Schallin, Emma Ohm Dreyer, Herman Ohm, Ida Ohm Schumacher, Clara Ohm Pompe, and Walter Ohm, and 37 first cousins.
He is survived by his wife Gertrude Draayom Ohm of Arnolds Park, Iowa, their son Michael Ohm of Okoboji, Iowa, three nephews, Darwin Hanna of Hemet, California, Daryl Hanna of Corona, California, and Bryan Hanna and his wife Debbie of Temecula, California, three nieces, Gerogia Hanna Toliver of Los Angeles, California, Ginger Hanna Costa of Long Beach, California, and Valerie Hanna Carnahan and her husband Patrick of Torrance, California, seven grand nieces and nephews, Jeremy Hanna, Sandra Hanna, Michael Costa, Kevin Costa, Sydney Carnahan, Ashley Carnahan, and Sterling Toliver, eight great grand nieces and nephews, five first cousins, and Betsy, the family cat.

Source: Sioux County Capital 7-14-2016