Tweeten, James LeRoy (1925-2019)

TWEETEN, DAHLBY, HEIMDAL, OLSEN, THOMAS, HAGEN, GILBERTSON, JOHNSON, HOLTAN, ARTHUR

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 2/1/2019 at 14:33:34

James LeRoy Tweeten
December 1, 1925 - January 10, 2019

James LeRoy Tweeten, age 93, died on Thursday, January 10, 2019, at the Lake Mills Care Center.

Jim was born on December 1, 1925, to Gilbert and Mae Dalby Tweeten on their farm near Joice, Iowa. He attended Dahlen Country School and graduated from Joice High School. From 1946 to 1947, he served as a Medic in the US Army, including time on the hospital ship HOPE. Honorably discharged in 1947, he returned home. On April 3, 1949, he married Ruth Ione Heimdal (his high school sweetheart) at the Beaver Creek Lutheran Church, rural Joice. Jim and Ruth were members of the Beaver Creek Lutheran Church for over fifty years, where Jim served as Lay Chairperson and on the church council several times.

Eventually, Jim and Ruth had two children, Debra Jane and William James. After living and farming near Joice, they moved to Lake Mills in 1982. Jim enjoyed helping his son, Bill, with the farming and rode in the combine as recently as 2016. In 1974, Jim began a college course in Health Care Administration at Area Eleven Community College, Ankeny, Iowa. After passing the National and State Exams, Jim became a licensed Nursing Home Administrator and considered himself privileged to work with a very special caring staff at the Lutheran Retirement Home, Northwood, Iowa, for almost seventeen years. Moreover. Jim felt God had called him to a ministry of serving and sharing love with the nursing home staff. He felt happy helping others. After retiring, he helped out as an interim administrator at a number of nursing homes in Iowa, twice at IOOF at Mason City and at seven other homes.

On several occasions, the Lake Mills Canning Factory provided him with a short-term job. A member of the American Legion for seventy years, he served as the Joice Legion Commander for two terms. In his community, he served on several boards: the Joice Coop Elevator, Winnebago Mutual Insurance, and the Nursing Home Administrators Licensure Board. A charter member with the Lake Mills Ambulance Service, he volunteered for seventeen years.

Jim loved family, friends, and meeting new people. Together, Jim and Ruth enjoyed worshiping God, playing card games, golfing, riding horses, and singing. In addition, they liked traveling all over the U.S., Canada, and overseas to eleven European countries and Taiwan. Moreover, wintering in Texas brought them much pleasure. “Ruth and I always enjoy each other’s company,” he often said. Sharing the love of Jesus, Jim and Ruth teamed together in hospitality to friends and family, to those going through a tough time, and even continuing as Jim hosted movies and the Lawrence Welk Show up to the present.

Two of his favorite caps remind us of the priorities in his life. BLT Farm caps, featuring the favorite John Deere tractors of his son, Bill, remind us of the importance of farm values: hard work, love of the land, and family. Honor Flight caps remind us to Honor God, the Military, and Country.

Those left to cherish his memory include his daughter and son-in-law, Debra and Scott Olsen, of McCook Lake, South Dakota; his grandson and his wife, Erik and Mandy Olsen, of St. Louis, Missouri; his granddaughter and her husband, Mindy and Robert Thomas, and great-grandchildren, Maxus and Sarah, of Herman, Nebraska; his son and daughter-in-law, Bill and Linda Tweeten, of Joice, Iowa, his grandsons and their wives, Joshua and Erica Tweeten, and his great-grandchildren, Nora, Sophia, and James, of Austin, Minnesota, and Jacob Tweeten, of Lake Mills, Iowa; his grandson and is wife, Tyler and Lindsay Tweeten, and his great-granddaughters, Anna and Addison, of Austin, Minnesota; his brothers and their wives: Stanley and Joyce Tweeten, of Manly, Iowa, and Luther and Eloyce Tweeten, of Hillard, Ohio; and his in-laws, Marilyn Tweeten, of Joice, Iowa, Carole Hagen, of Lake Mills, Iowa; and Sylvia Heimdal, of Joice, Iowa; as well as many nieces, nephews, and friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth Heimdal Tweeten; his parents, Gilbert and Mae Tweeten; his siblings and their spouses, Alvin and Cecel and Mattie Tweeten, Olive and Leonard Gilbertson, Komer and Marion Johnson, Ruth and Stanford Holtan, Maynard Tweeten, Bess Tweeten, Sybil and Harold Arthur, Vern Hagen, and Paul Heimdal.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, January 14, 2019, at Salem Lutheran Church, 401 South Lake Street, Lake Mills, with Pastor Joel Guttormson officiating. Interment will follow in the Beaver Creek Lutheran Cemetery, rural Joice, Iowa, with military honors conducted by the Lake Mills Otto Chose Post #235. A visitation is scheduled from 5:00 to 7:00 PM on Sunday, January 13, 2019, at the Mittelstadt Funeral Home, 902 East Main Street, Lake Mills, Iowa 50450. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Beaver Creek Lutheran Cemetery, 3770 Bluebill Avenue, Joice, Iowa 50446.

We appreciate all the prayers and support from family and friends.

Mittelstadt Funeral Home, Lake Mills, Iowa, 2019.

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