AMUNDSON, Arthur M. 1933-2011

AMUNDSON

Posted By: Kermit Kittleson
Date: 5/3/2011 at 12:08:32

NORTHWOOD, IOWA - Arthur "Art" Melvin Amundson, Jr., 77, Northwood, died Sunday, May 1, 2011, at the Muse-Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City, surrounded by his loving family.

A funeral service for Art will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 5, at the First Lutheran Church, 309 North Ninth Street, Northwood, with Pastor Karen Rossing Grandall officiating. Burial will be in the Pleasant Valley Township Cemetery, rural Swaledale, with military graveside honors.

Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m. on Wednesday, at the Conner Colonial Chapel, 1008 First Ave. South, Northwood. Visitation will also be held one hour prior to service time on Thursday at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to First Lutheran Church in Northwood, or to the charity of one's choice in his memory. Conner Colonial Chapel, 1008 First Ave. South, Northwood, is in charge of the arrangements.

Arthur Melvin Amundson, Jr, was born on Sept. 2, 1933, in Thornton, the son of Arthur Amundson, Sr., and Katherine (Peters) Amundson. Art was baptized in Thornton, and confirmed in the Lutheran faith in Swea City. He was educated in the North Iowa schools graduating from Estherville High School in 1951. He also attended Estherville Junior College and graduated from the University of Iowa with a business degree in 1957. He was inducted into the Army on Aug. 11, 1953, in Estherville, and was stationed in Austria as a radio operator, serving his country honorably and faithfully until his discharge on June 9, 1955, at Fort Sheridan, Ill. After his honorable discharge, he worked as a salesman for JC Penney Company in Mason City, and as a produce manager for grocery stores in several Iowa and Minnesota communities. His work career also included many years with the Worth County Co-Op Oil Company in Northwood until his retirement in 1995.

He was united in marriage to Nancy Deming on Aug. 22, 1965, in Oakland, Calif., and to this union four children were born, Chamaine, Erik, Eileen, and Heather. Art and Nancy were married for 45 years.

Art enjoyed reading, gardening, cooking, collecting LP records, listening to music, following his children's school activities when they were younger and presently the grandchildren's activities.

He was a member of First Lutheran Church in Northwood, and enjoyed serving as a reader and greeter at the church.

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife, Nancy Amundson of Northwood; his beloved children and grandchildren, Chamaine and her husband Loren, and Reid and Brycen Snell of Cedar Rapids, Erik Amundson and his wife Callie Chenault and Sam and Sophia, of St. Paul, Minn., Eileen Amundson, and Evelyn and Megan Ocel of Northwood, and Heather and her husband Jacob, and Max and Gwen Musich of St. Paul, Minn. Art will also be missed and fondly remembered by nieces, nephews, and cousins from the Peters, Amundson and Kruggel families. Also left to cherish his memory are his sisters-in-law, Carole and her husband Larry Harstad of Sun City, Arizona, Judy and her husband William Burton, Joan and her husband Steve Combs, all of San Angelo, Texas, and Gea Amundson of Evergreen, Colo.; as well as many friends.

Art was preceded in death by his parents; brother, Donnie Amundson, and his mother and father-in law, Gerry and Bill Deming.

Conner Colonial Chapel: 641-324-1543, www.colonialchapels . com.

[ Globe Gazette online, May 3, 2011 ]