Hover, Maurice Edward "Ed" 1938 - 2024

HOVER, PETERSON, VICK, CHAPMAN, ARANDA, GULBRNDSEN, MAO, GREENE, LADEN, BREISLER, KRATZ

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 7/19/2024 at 14:42:25

Maurice Edward “Ed” Hover died peacefully at the age of 85 on Thursday, July 11, 2024, at Barthell Eastern Star Nursing Home in Decorah.

He was born Aug. 6, 1938, at Decorah Hospital to Agnes (Peterson) and Maurice Hover.

Ed attended Madison #3, a one-room school, through 8th grade. He graduated Decorah High School in 1957, worked at 3M in Minneapolis, and then attend Luther College where he graduated in 1963 with a degree in sociology. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve for six years. On Oct. 25, 1964, he married Charilyn Kay Vick at Hesper Lutheran Church.

For 19 years, Ed worked for the Iowa Department of Human Services as a social worker in Clayton Country, Director in Buchanan County, and District Administrator for Northeast Iowa located in Decorah. He transitioned to a career as a financial advisor with Lutheran Brotherhood in 1982, now known as Thrivent. In 2005, he joined RDA Financial until his retirement in 2015. His life-long commitment to serving, volunteering, and walking alongside others is the legacy he has left us all. It was lived out in many community organizations: Operation Threshold in Waterloo; youth leader, along with his wife, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Independence; Helping Services for Youth and Families in Postville; Cancer Society of Clayton and Winneshiek counties; Habitat for Humanity of Decorah; and he held many leadership positions at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, to name a few. He was a member of Decorah’s Symra. Ed loved spending his time in his gardens, wintering in Texas with his wife, visiting his daughters wherever they happened to live in this world, traveling with friends, playing cards, lutefisk church dinners, and fellowshipping and storytelling over a glass of beer, wine, or a cup of coffee with his extended family and many friends.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Charilyn; four daughters he deeply loved: Sarah (U.S. Army Chaplain–Major David) Chapman of Brandenburg, KY; Stephanie (Michael) Aranda of Weslaco, TX; Joanna (Nils) Gulbrandsen of Kolbotn, Norway; Jane Hover (Phillip Mao) of Brooklyn, NY. He was proud of his four grandchildren: U.S. Army Captain Nathan Aranda (Joint Base Lewis-McCord, WA–currently deployed to Poland); Ian Aranda (Santa Fe, NM); Ellinora Gulbransen (Oslo, Norway); and Norway Navy OR-1 August Gulbrandsen (currently stationed at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe-NATO SHAPE, Mons Belgium); brother David (Joanie) Hover of New Prague, MN; siblings: Dale (Donna) Hover of Ames, Randy (Lori) Hover of Dorchester, Vicki (Gary) Sovereign of Cresco; Mark (Jean) Hover of Cresco; stepbrother Alan Greene of Waukon; and sister-in-law, Sharon Vick of Mabel, Minn. He adored his many nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his parents Agnes and Maurice Hover; older sisters and brothers-in-law, LaDean and Donald Breisler and Patricia and Roger Kratz; brother, Quentin Hover; stepmother, Norma Hover; in-laws, Grace and Conrad Vick; brother-in-law, Gary Vick; brother and sister-in-law, Carolyn and Duane Vick; and nephew, Tony Vick.

A Celebration of Life will be held next summer on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah, IA. In lieu of flowers, please consider memorializing Ed by giving to the Good Shepherd Memorial Fund, Barthell Eastern Star Nursing Home, or WinnMed Hospice.

As a family, we are deeply thankful for the excellent and loving care Ed received from Barthell Eastern Star Nursing Home staff and the compassionate support provided by Good Shepherd Lutheran Church’s pastors and congregation over the last three and half years. WinnMed Hospice has our gratitude for the thoughtful and tender care given the final five months of Ed’s well-lived life.

Source: Decorah Newspapers July 16, 2024