LEASE, Alva L. 1918-2001

LEASE

Posted By: Kermit Kittleson
Date: 5/14/2011 at 13:07:29

Alva Leonard LEASE

NORTHWOOD, IOWA - Al Lease, 83, of Northwood, formerly of Storm Lake, died suddenly on Wednesday (Nov. 21, 2001) at his home at the Lutheran Retirement Home, Maple Court, in Northwood.

His funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday at Grace Lutheran Church in Storm Lake, with Pastor Steven Schulz officiating. Burial will be in Buena Vista Memorial Park Cemetery with full military honors by Amvets Post No. 66 of Storm Lake.

Friends may call from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home, 300 Cayuga St. in Storm Lake, where the family will be present to greet friends.

A memorial fund has been established.

Alva Leonard Lease was born Jan. 14, 1918, on a farm near Lawton, the son of Leonard and Edith Finna Lease. He moved to Cherokee at a young age and received his education in the public schools, graduating from Wilson High School in Cherokee in 1938.

Al was married to Helen Margurite Hanson on June 23, 1940, at the Presbyterian Parsonage in Cherokee.

He was employed at Knipes Shoe Store for four years until entering the service on Dec. 21, 1941.

He served in the United States Army Air Force from 1942-1944 as a member of the 8th Air Force, 305th bomb group, 365th squadron, out of Chelveston, England. He was on a combat crew as a flight engineer and top-turret gunner on a B-17, completing 34 missions over Europe.

Upon returning from the war the couple moved to Storm Lake in 1946, where Al was employed at Kallmer Sales until 1966. After the business was sold he was employed at Merrill Manufacturing Co. from 1967 until retiring in1973.

Al and Helen moved to Northwood in July 2001 to be closer to their children.

Al was a long-time member of Grace Lutheran Church of Storm Lake. He will be remembered as a man of high integrity, who served as a wonderful role model as husband and father.

He is survived by a son, Craig and his wife, Phyllis, of Northwood: a daughter, Karen Braesch and her husband, Tom, of Prior Lake, Minn.; five grandsons, Travis and Anne Marie Lease, of Port St. Lucie, Fla., Brian and Becky Lease, of La Crosse, Wis., Matthew and Melissa Braesch, of Sheboygan, Wis., Jason and Tracy Braesch, of Prior Lake, Minn., and Jeff and Joan Braesch, of Burnsville, Minn.

Also surviving are three great-granddaughters, Arianna Kersten and Alexis and Haley Braesch; a sister-in-law, Lillian Johnson, of Storm Lake; a brother-in-law, Gunner Hanson, of Morris, Minn.; and other extended family members and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Helen, on Oct. 17, 2001; a brother, Glen; and by a nephew Stephen.

Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home, (712) 732-1911.

Globe Gazette - Nov. 24, 2001