Belz,Ronald R 1946 - 2002

BELZ, SEVERSON, QUANRUDE, MOODY, RASMUSSEN

Posted By: Norman Hjelmeland (email)
Date: 8/5/2013 at 18:20:07

Ronald Belz, 56, of Decorah, died Sunday, April 21, 2002 in an automobile accident on Highway 9 east of Decorah.

Visitation will be Thursday after 9:30 a.m. at the church.

Funeral services will be held Thursday, April 25 at 10:30 a.m. at Decorah Lutheran Church with Rev. Bryan Robertson, James Glesne and Ole Winter.

Organist will be Kathy Murray, and soloist Kari Iverson will sing "On Eagle's Wings," "The Lord's Prayer," and "Wind Beneath My Wing."

Congregational hymns will be "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace."

Casketbearers are Tim Belz, Mike Garcia, John Hunter, Shawn O'Neill, Daniel Rasmussen and Jeff Severson.

Honorary Casketbearers will be the Decorah Fire Department.

Burial will be in Phelps Cemetery, and Fjelstul Funeral Home of Decorah is handling arrangements.

Ronald Roy Belz was born Feb. 28, 1946 in Decorah, the son of Roy and Ruth (Severson) Belz.

He was baptized at Decorah Lutheran Church and confirmed at Our Savior Lutheran Church in LaCrosse, Wis.

The family moved to LaCrosse, Wis., in 1950, where Ronald Belz attended public school through the 11th grade.

While in LaCrosse, Ronald Belz was active in the YMCA and Boy Scout Troop 13 where he earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

The family returned to Decorah in 1963, when Roy Belz started his own business, Belz Electric.

Ronald Belz graduated from Decorah High School in the class of 1964. He played football in high school in both LaCrosse and Decorah and lettered in football at Decorah High School.

He married Merle Quanrude Aug. 31, 1968 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon. To this union, two children were born: Laurie and Christopher.

After high school, Ronald Belz worked at Deco Products. Then he worked with his father in Belz Electric in downtown Decorah.

Roy Belz retired in 1983.

Ronald Belz then went to work at Luther College as an electrician, until he had an aneurysm in March 1997, which forced him to retire.

He was a member of St. Benedict Catholic Church in Decorah, and was also a member of the Iowa Association of Building Maintencance Engineers, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, National Rifle Association, North American Hunting Club, and Fox & Coon Club.

In honor of his father, he was a charter member of the National World War II Memorial Fund.

Ronald Belz was a volunteer firefighter for the Decorah Fire Department for 23 years. After his service as assistant fire chief, he served as the Decorah fire chief in 1987 and 1988. He retired from the Fire Department in Nov. 1993.

Survivors include his wife, Merle Belz of Decorah; one daughter, Laurie (Dan) Moody of Muscatine; one son, Christopher Belz of Decorah; three step grandchildren; his mother, Ruth Belz of Decorah; two brothers, Les (Lori) Belz of Winona, Minn., and Leo (Mary) Belz of Holmen, Wis., three sisters; Kathy and Sandra Belz of Decorah and Joanne (Jim) Rasmussen of Hampton, Iowa; his mother-in-law, Ursula Quanrude of Waukon and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Ronald Roy Belz was preceded in death by an infant daughter; his father, Roy Belz, on June 6, 1998 and his father-in-law, Harold Quanrude in 1989.

Decorah Journal, April 25, 2002

Phelps Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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