Van Auken, Zane Michael “Mike”(1945-2017)
VAN AUKEN, BLOOM, REIF, NØRSTEBØ
Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 6/2/2017 at 20:50:59
Zane Michael "Mike" Van Auken
April 5, 1945 - April 17, 2017Forest City – Zane Michael “Mike” Van Auken, 72, of Forest City, Iowa, died on Monday, April 17, 2017, at his residence.
Zane Michael “Mike” Van Auken was born on April 5, 1945, to Ruth (Bloom) and Zane Van Auken in St. Paul, Minnesota. He spent his first nine months on the Bloom family farm near Shafer, Minnesota, with his mom and older sister, Karen, waiting for his father to return home from the War to meet his son for the first time. Next, the family moved first to Arcadia, Wisconsin, and then to Winona, Minnesota, where Mike’s younger sister, Rebecca (Reif), joined the family and he spent his childhood immersed in family, nature, and music. He attended Winona State for two years where he met his future bride, an exchange student from Norway, living with friends of the family. Just as their relationship was budding, however, the time came for her to return to her homeland. Mike, then, transferred to Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he took part in various musical endeavors. Serendipitously, he had the opportunity to tour Europe with the Nordic Choir and was able to extend his stay to visit his long-distance love interest in Norway. After two years of courting across the sea, they decided they had had enough, and Mike married Inghild “Pøtt” Nørstebø on February 10, 1968, in Winona.
Mike and Pøtt made their first home in Gays Mills, Wisconsin, in a pink trailer house. Mike taught band and choir in the Gays Mills and Soldiers Grove Junior High and High Schools for two years before they moved to Forest City, Iowa, in August of 1970 – 10 days after their daughter Kari (Stern) was born! Aided by the recommendation of renowned Nordic Choir director Weston Noble, Mike was offered the position of director of the Waldorf College Concert Band and the New World Singers. He spent sixteen years as a much beloved teacher and mentor to countless Waldorf students, impacting many lives in a very positive way. He led the band and singers on many tours, including four trans-formative trips to Mexico. In February of 1973, the family was made complete with the birth of their son, Paul Michael. Mike took a sabbatical from Waldorf during the 1974/75 school year, and the family moved to Oslo, Norway. Hired there as the music teacher at a junior high, Mike had to learn to speak Norwegian very quickly! Mike’s years at Waldorf were filled with wonderful friends, colleagues, and students that continued to hold a special place in his heart for years to come. Indeed, he experienced several phases in his life resulting in lasting relationships which reverberate to this day.
In 1986, Mike had an opportunity to shift gears and start in the insurance industry, eventually expanding to investments and financial planning. The family spent a total of thirteen wonderful years in their home on North Clark Street where Mike experimented with landscaping and home remodeling while helping to raise his kids. In 1989, they moved out to “the country” to their current home on a former farm. There, Mike established an office for Van Auken Financial Services in a big red barn where he advised clients until he retired in 2011. That big red barn, also, became the setting for many parties and celebrations with family and friends over the years. On this larger spread, Mike had the freedom to pursue more of his varied interests which included gardening, bird-watching, tree- planting, raising chickens, and building a fish pond. Of course, music played a huge role in Mike’s life! He enjoyed singing with the choir at Immanuel Lutheran Church for forty-six years, playing jazz with the Rank & Tenure and worship music with Psalm 100 and beyond for many years, directing the junior choir at church, listening to a lot of good jazz, enjoying live performances of many kinds, and more. A voracious reader, he devoured all of Louis L’Amour’s westerns as well as book club novels, histories, and other nonfiction, magazines about geography, science, culture, and his beloved Montana as well as daily newspapers. Having his own way with words, too, he penned and printed three illustrated children’s books for his grandkids and others to enjoy.
Mike liked good jokes (often laughing before he could get out his own punchlines) and good discussions, particularly about politics, of the decidedly lefty variety, but he really enjoyed rubbing shoulders with people from all stations and stripes. He participated not only in many ways at church, but also in Rotary and with Habitat for Humanity. Moreover, he helped create a community garden, read with elementary school kids, and more.
Mike loved his wife’s cooking and laughing with friends over libations. He had the good fortune of spending many glorious summer days at the Nørstebø family cabin in Norway and the Van Auken family cabin in Montana; per his wishes, his earthly remains will find their final resting place near that Montana cabin with a particularly wonderful vista of the mountains of Glacier Park. A rock engraved simply with the words, “Enjoy the View,” will mark the spot, a fitting tribute to a man who touched many lives but nonetheless remained humble.
Mike was dedicated to and loved his family very much. Preceded in death by his parents, Ruth and Zane Van Auken, and his sister, Karen, he is survived by Pøtt, his beloved wife of forty-nine years; his daughter, Kari, her husband, Chuck, and their daughters, Sofie, Celia, and Stella, of Plymouth, Minnesota; and his son, Paul, his wife, Courtney, and their daughters, Tizita and Soliana, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin; and his sister, Becky, and her husband, Bill; as well as by a niece and three nephews and their families. All of them feel comforted knowing that his health problems of many years will plague him no more, and he is now tapping his toes with the heavenly choir, whose pitch is always perfect!
Celebration of Life services will be held at 11:00 A.M., Saturday, April 22, 2017, at Immanuel Lutheran Church with Pastors Zech Anderson and Steve Dornbusch officiating. A gathering of family and friends will be held from 4:00 to 6:00 P.M., Friday, April 21, 2017, at the Cataldo Schott Funeral Chapel, 505 North Clark Street, Forest City. Burial of cremains will follow at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be given to Immanuel Lutheran Church or a charity of the donor’s choice.
Cataldo Schott Funeral Home, 2017.
Winnebago Obituaries maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
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