Laverne Mahlon STAUFFER

STAUFFER, GRIMES, ARNOLD, GROVE, STAUFFER-GROVE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2007 at 19:26:45

DR. LAVERNE M. STAUFFER, 88, MOUNT MORRIS

Mount Morris has lost one of its most prominent citizens. Dr. Laverne Mahlon "Doc" Stauffer, 88, died Monday, Feb. 5, 2007, at home after a long struggle with renal failure. His wife, Kathy, was by his side and Dr. Stauffer died peacefully with the help of Hospice. He was a very well respected and much beloved optometrist in the Mount Morris area for 34 years. Since his retirement, he enjoyed his passions for photography, winning many first-place ribbons at the Ogle County Fair for his nature shots and contributing many genealogical photos from Ogle County to the U.S. GenWeb project, USGenWeb.org; and playing popular music on the organ. Doc was also a life-long lover of cats and even domesticated a feral kitten that he and a neighbor rescued.

Dr. Stauffer was born on April 2, 1918, in Eagle Grove, Iowa, and worked for the A&P stores in Mount Morris, Oregon and Rochelle from about 1934 to 1942, when he was inducted into the U.S. Air Force and sent to Las Vegas, Nev., as part of the 50th Flexible Gunnery Training Squad-ron. He had his fiance, Betty Marie Grimes of Oregon come to Las Vegas, where they were married on May 8, 1943. Staff Sergeant and Mrs. Stauffer moved to Denver, Colo., when he was transferred to the 15th Photo Squadron. They lived there until about 1945, when he was discharged. At that time he enrolled in the Northern Illinois School of Optometry Chicago, from which he graduated as a Doctor of Optometry in 1949. He opened his optometric practice in Mount Morris the same year, retiring in 1983. His wife predeceased him on March 10, 1974, of pancreatic cancer. On April 2, 1995, he married Kathryn Jean Arnold in Tampa, Fla. He was a member of the American Optometric Association. He attended St. James Lutheran Church between Mount Morris and Forreston. He had served Mount Morris as the First Civil Defense Director, and with his wife, Betty, they had set up the first comprehensive tornado warning system for the area. Dr. Stauffer also had served as a village Police Commissioner.

In addition to his wife, Kathy, he is survived by his brother, Merle Blecker Stauffer ("Kitty") of Sebring, Fla.; daughter, the Rev. S. Anita Stauffer (a Lutheran pastor) of Chicago; son, Gerald M. "Jerry" Stauffer of Mount Morris. Also surviving are his granddaughter, Heather Ann Stauffer-Grove (Todd); and two great-grandchildren, all of Dixon. Memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 8, in Finch Funeral Home, 405 E. Hitt St., Mount Morris. Visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the funeral home. Private burial of the cremated remains will be in Oakwood Cemetery, Mount Morris, at a later date. A memorial has been established for the Tri-County Animal Shelter, Dixon. Arrangements by Finch Funeral Home.

Rockford Register Star (IL)
February 7, 2007