Ode, Carsten L 1907 - 1970

ODE, LINNEVOLD, MEYER, WALKER, ROSEL, KLENZMAN, KIENCKE

Posted By: Norman Hjelmeland (email)
Date: 6/14/2021 at 19:36:59

Carsten Ode, Survivor of Jap Prison Camp, Dies

Funeral services will be at 3 p.m. Saturday for a Waterloo man who survived the suffering of a Japanese prison camp during World War II and made a new career for himself although blind from malnutrition.
Carsten Ode, 63, of 716 Minnesota St., was dead on arrival at St. Francis Hospital at 12:30 p.m. Thursday of a heart attack.
Those who wish may make memorial contributions to the building fund at St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church, where the funeral service will be conducted by the pastor, the Rev. Kenneth Strecker. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery at Denver. Friends may call at Parott & Wood Funeral Home until 1 p.m. Saturday.
Mr. Ode was born Jan. 3, 1907, at Decorah, son of George and Marie Linnevold Ode and married Mrs. Elda Meyer Walker on Nov. 7, 1948, in Waterloo, where he was a member of St. Ansgar's Church and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He was a familiar figure in the Waterloo area, although he had a career with the Globe Wireless Co., a communications firm, in Manila. P. I. when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941. However, he had been in the Far East since 1932 and had seen Army service in Shanghai. He was imprisoned by the Japanese for more than three years from 1942 to 1945, during which he reported the prisoners were fed mainly liquids along with some mush, stew and boiled grass.
On Feb. 23, 1945, 15 minutes before Mr. Ole's scheduled execution at the prison camp, American paratroopers arrived to liberate the captives. His weight had dropped from 180 to 110 pounds and he returned home to Decorah to recuperate.
He developed spinal meningitus as a result of his incarceration and, after submitting to remedial surgery, lost both sight and hearing. In 1946, a fund was established at Decorah to aid him in his fight for rehabilitation and contributions totaling $6,000 came from many states. He used the money to attend a school for the blind at Jamesville, Wis., after he had regained his hearing, though he remained blind the rest of his life.
Through the aid of the Iowa Commission for the Blind, he began operating a refreshment stand in the lobby of the Lafayette Building in Waterloo and became affiliated with the VFW, the JayCee and active in their civic projects. He was also in demand as a public speaker.
In 1949, he became a salesman for Watkins Products, Inc., traveling alone through out the United States and only two years ago achieving a position as seventh-ranking salesman for the firm in the nation.
One of his early supporter in his sales career in Chicago was the Cook County clerk, who helped him in making his way through the county building. The association produced a lasting friendship between Mr. Ode and the clerk, now Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.
Mr. Ode developed a remarkable memory and memorized details of the 275 articles he sold. He was the subject of several articles in sales trade publications for his achievements. In 1950, he made a venture into politics by becoming a Democratic candidate for nomination of state representative from Black Hawk county. He did not win the nomination.
Mr. Ode is survived by his wife; a sister, Mrs. Esther Rosel of Decorah; a brother, Sigurd Ode of Decorah; two step-daughters: Mrs. Vernette Klenzman of 3676 La Porte Road; 10 step grandchildren; and one great step grandchild. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother.

Iowa Newspaper obituary