Lovell, Michael A. 1943 - 2015

LAVELL, DEENEY, REISDORF, MAUGEN, DOCKEN

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 1/30/2015 at 16:00:20

Michael A. Lavell of Ossian died January 27, 2015, following a courageous battle of cancer at age 71. Mike was born February 9, 1943, in Waverly, Iowa, the son of Forrest and Delores (Deeney) Lavell. The family moved to Ossian in 1947. Following graduation from DeSales High School, Mike entered the U.S. Air Force in 1960 serving as a gunsight/bombsight technician on F-100s in England and Tripoli, Libya. While stationed in England, Mike met and married his wife, Joan from Chelmsford, Essex, England in 1964. Following his discharge in 1964, Mike joined the IBM Corporation, working as a customer engineer in both Cedar Rapids and Dubuque and became a manager in the IBM St. Paul office in 1970. He subsequently held Branch Service Manager positions in Madison, Wisconsin, Portland, Oregon and Spokane, Washington and Service Planning Manager positions in IBM’s manufacturing locations in Austin, Texas, Boulder, Colorado and Rochester, Minnesota. He retired after nearly thirty years of service, in 1994.

He was a cum laude graduate of Syracuse University in 1979 with a B.S. in marketing management. He moved back to the Ossian area in February of 1997. After moving back, he became an active participant and member of the “Boardroom” at the Linderbaum Auto Welding shop, solving the world and local problems discussed there. He especially enjoyed the many spirited political discussions even with those yet to come around to the correct view.

Until he retired, Mike was active in the communities in which he lived and participated as President of the East Madison Little League and as a coach of little league baseball and girls softball in Austin, Madison, Boulder and Portland. He established an IBM sponsored Explorer Post in Cedar Rapids and served as its first advisor, belonged to the Jaycees and was a Loaned Executive to the United Way in St. Paul, participating in Toastmasters and was a Little League umpire in Austin, Texas, he also served on the board of directors of the Spokane YMCA. Mike was an aviation enthusiast his entire life and was a private pilot and aircraft owner for many years. One of his greatest satisfactions was seeing both his daughter and son become pilots and aircraft owners. He also enjoyed exposing his granddaughters to aviation, taking them to the Oshkosh, Wisconsin fly-in and teaching them how to build and fly model airplanes and rockets. His granddaughter Astrid Lavell completed her first solo flight recently. He was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the Ossian American Legion Post. He was also an avid tinkerer, woodworker and personal computer user.

Mike is survived by his wife of fifty years, Joan; daughter, Julie (Craig) Reisdorf of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin; son, Michael (Dr. Beatriz) Lavell of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin; a sister, Sister Maxine Lavell OSF of Reno, Nevada; brother, Ronald Lavell of Ossian, Iowa; five granddaughters (his “sweeties”), Whitney (Branden) Mauger and Tanya (Peter) Docken of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, Jacqueline Reisdorf (fiancée, Jeremy Kronabetter) and Astrid and Jaika Lavell, all of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin, and his newest “sweetie” great-granddaughter, Claire Mauger of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin.

He was preceded in death by his father, Forrest Lavell in 1963 and his mother, Delores Reilly in 1995.

Visitation will be on Friday, January 30, 2015 from 4-7 pm at Schmitz-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Ossian, Iowa and one hour before Mass at the church on Saturday.

Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 am on Saturday, January 31, 2015 at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Ossian, Iowa with Rev. Msgr. Cletus Hawes as the Celebrant.

Burial will follow in the St. Francis de Sales Catholic Cemetery, Ossian, Iowa with Military Rites.

Schmitz – Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Ossian, Iowa is helping the family with the arrangements.

Source: Grau Funeral Home database

St. Francis de Sales Catholic Cemetery
 

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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