Smith, Randy Verne (1957-2014)
SMITH, MATHEWS, KROEZE, RODGERS, CHRISTIANSON, WIRTH, OSHEIM, BECKJORDAN, JOHNSON
Posted By: Paul Nay (email)
Date: 9/1/2014 at 13:12:37
Randy Verne Smith
(February 9, 1957 - July 18, 2014)Randy Verne Smith, 57, of Lake Mills, Iowa, died on Friday, July 18, 2014, at his Rice Lake home.
The second of the four children of Edwin and Joan (Mathews) Smith, Randy was born on February 9, 1957, in Forest City, Iowa. As a little boy, he followed his Grandpa Vernon around always wanting to be a farmer. Baptized and confirmed at Bethany Lutheran Church in Thompson, he graduated from Thompson Community School with the class of 1975. He started farming in 1977 after graduating from North Iowa Area Community College. As a farmer, he raised hogs, corn, soybeans, and more recently, turtles. He nurtured and loved his land as he turned the soil, planted the seed, and reaped the harvest. An outdoorsman, he also thrived on the challenge of fishing the deep and vast lakes of Minnesota–some of the most remote locations of God's beautiful landscape.
Randy married Susan Kroeze on February 18, 1978, at the First Reformed Church in Buffalo Center. They raised two children, Tyler Jordan and Laura Sue Marie. Randy and Susan lived on the farm for thirty-four years, only recently moving to their home at Rice Lake. Randy served on the board at the Five Star Coop and was a member of Salem Lutheran Church. A son, a brother, an excellent husband, a loving father, and a farmer, Randy was a good friend to many.
Those left to cherish his memory include his wife of thirty-six years, Susan; his son, Tyler; his daughter, Laura (fiancé Matt Rodgers); his mother and step-father, Joan and Bob Christianson; his sisters, Debbie Wirth, Kristi (Chuck) Osheim; and his brother, Todd (Patty) Smith, and his mom’s six sisters and their families along with countless other family members and friends.
He was preceded in death by his father, Edwin Smith, his grandparents, Vernon and Opal (Beckjordan) Mathews and Marlor and Lucy Smith; his brother-in-law, John Wirth; his father- and mother-in-law, Laurence and Hattie (Johnson) Kroeze, and his godfather, Art Mitchell.
God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker." So God made a farmer.
Funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM, Tuesday, July 22, 2014, at Salem Lutheran Church in Lake Mills, Iowa, with Pastor Peter Soli and Pastor Bill Peake officiating. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, Monday evening, at the Mittelstadt Funeral Home, 902 East Main Street, Lake Mills, Iowa 50450, and again one hour prior to the service at the church. Cremation will take place after the service and inurnment will take place at Rose Hill Cemetery in Thompson, Iowa, at a later date.
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