Kurt Vincent AHLSTROM

AHLSTROM, LJUNBERG, NAUGLE, GREEN, BARKEMA, RODRIGUEZ, WATNE, LOBDELL, WHITE

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/28/2007 at 11:01:51

BELMOND - Kurt V. Ahlstrom, age 80, of Belmond, Iowa, died, Monday (June 25, 2007) at his home in Belmond, surrounded by his family following a courageous battle with cancer. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, June 28, at the Belmond United Methodist Church. The Rev. Michael Druhl will be officiating. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Andrews Funeral Home, 516 First St. S.E., Belmond, and continue Thursday one hour prior to the services at the church. Military honors will be provided by the Belmond Military Unit. Burial will be in the Egg Harbor Cemetery, Egg Harbor, N.J. Those wishing to express their sympathies to the family through a memorial in Kurt's honor may wish to consider Hospice of Wright County, or to a charity of their choice.

Kurt Vincent Ahlstrom, the son of Herman and Blenda (Ljunberg) Ahlstrom, was born July 12, 1926, in Vexjo, Sweden. As a young child he immigrated with his family to the Belmond/Goodell areas where he received his primary education through the Goodell country schools. Kurt later continued his secondary education in the electronics field at tech. school in Des Moines and Rockford, Ill. He was employed for a time as a tool and die maker at Rockford prior to being drafted on Oct. 18, 1950, into the United States Army during the time of the Korean Conflict. Kurt served two years on active duty before being transferred to the Army Reserve in October 1952. His service tenure concluded in February 1957, at which time he was honorably discharged as a PFC. Kurt lived for six years in Alaska where he attended flight school. He received hundreds of hours of FAA training at the Federal Aviation Academy in Oklahoma City, Okla., where he completed the requirements to become a professional flight inspection technician. Kurt's career as a flight inspector took him to many places throughout the world including many third world countries. Much of his focus was on the certification of airports for use. He retired from flight inspection after 22 years in 1974. Kurt worked for a time in real estate and in electronics, sharing his engineering mind and entrepreneurial ambitions in the development of whatever the project was at hand.

Kurt was united in marriage to Joan B. Naugle in January 1968 on a beach in Atlantic City, N.J. Their union was blessed with two children, Kurt II and Karen. During their time together in raising their son and daughter, the couple enjoyed taking family trips to Alaska, New Jersey, and various western tours of the United States. Joan passed away in 1982. Kurt continued to reside in New Jersey until 1995, when he began returning to Iowa to spend time with his brothers, taking fishing excursions to Minnesota and treks to the west. In June 1999, Kurt was united in marriage to Betty R. (Green) Barkema at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. The couple recently celebrated their eighth anniversary. Their years together included travels to Florida for the winter, to Sweden to visit family, and other journeys to Alaska and Hawaii. Kurt was a man who enjoyed exploring and experiencing all that life had to offer, whether it be on one of his trips to 26 different countries, or visiting six of the seven continents. He loved to take the road less traveled in life whether it was on one of his many trips along the eastern seaboard, a trek to Paris, New Mexico, Florida, Hawaii, Florida, Texas, or one of his excursions to Luxor, the Tomb of King Tut, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Stations of the Cross in the Holy Land, or his time in Lebanon. He relished the freedom of a hot air ballon flight and the excitement of touch and go landings during a float plane trip to the Alaskan backwaters. He appreciated the friendship and camaraderie of his coffee buddies in New Jersey. He also enjoyed good conversation and sharing stories, flavored with his wit, with family and friends. Kurt liked the simple things in life such as birdwatching and raising flowers. He was a longtime member of the D.A.V., the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and a veteran member of an Alaskan flight club he helped charter back in the 1950s.

Kurt's life will be remembered by his wife, Betty R. Barkema, Belmond; his son, Kurt Ahlstrom II and wife, Denise, and their sons, Jacob and Alexander, Dallas, Texas; his daughter, Karen Rodriquez, and husband, Edward, and their daughters: Kayla and Marissa, Westmont, N.J.; a brother, Roy Ahlstrom and wife, Mildred, Belmond; two nieces, Barbara Watne and husband, Ted, and Sonja Lobdell and husband, Brett, all of Belmond; two nephews, Randy White and wife, Gail, Richmond, Va., and Bob White and wife, Ginger, Pancea, Fla.; and other extended family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Joan; his brothers, Stanley Ahlstrom and wife, Beulah, and Carl Ahlstrom and wife, Carolyn; a sister, Pearl White and her husband, Wilbur "Bill." Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond, 641-444-4474.

Mason City Globe Gazette, 6/26/2007