Robert E. LUTZ

LUTZ, JONES, JOBE, HAWKINS, SORENSON, FRANCIS, PADIERN, DURGIN, MEYER, LECHUGA, DANNEN, STOEFFLER, PATE, HUGHES, ROTH, SPIELMAN, CLAIR

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/10/2008 at 10:40:42

MANLY - Robert E. "Bob" Lutz, 86, of 3514 Spruce Ave., Manly, Iowa died Monday (March 25, 2008) at the Manly Care Center in Manly. Memorial services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, March 28, at the Bethel United Methodist Church in Manly with the Rev. Don Preston officiating. Military honors will be provided by the American Legion Edward Tosel Post No. 110, Manly. Inurnment will take place at a later time at Oakwood Cemetery, Plymouth. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the Bethel United Methodist Church, Manly, and then one hour before the service on Friday at the church. Family suggests memorials to Robert E. Lutz Memorial Fund.

Bob was born Oct. 23, 1921, in Plankinton, S.D., the son of Lawrence and Ruth (Jones) Lutz. He quit school at an early age to help on the family farm and other farms and ranches. He enlisted in the United States Army July 20, 1942. As with many of his 535th AAA World War II buddies, he was very proud of his country and its flag and also those who served under it. He participated in many military operations beginning at Camp Haan, desert of California, to Camp Callan near San Diego, then back across country to the Tennessee Maneuvers and Camp Atterberry, Ind., Fort Fisher, N.C., Camp Davis, N.C., and on to Shanks, N.Y., to be shipped to England via Grenwich, Scotland. Then it was on to the beaches of Normandy up through France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. Whether it was on foot, truck, bus, train, troop ship or luxury ocean liner he had an interesting story to tell. He was discharged from the Army as a sergeant on Nov. 24, 1945, with citations of Bronze Arrowhead, American Theater Ribbon, European-African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal 43, Bronze Star Medal Go 17, and 99th INF DIV 45. Following his discharge he always stayed in touch with his unit and enjoyed attending the reunions. After the service he moved back to South Dakota, drove trucks, farmed and worked various construction jobs.

They moved to Fort Thompson, S.D., where he farmed and fed cattle with Les Christiansen. Also, while living on the Crow Creek Indian Reservation he was on the local school board and was involved with the merger of the local country school and the government school to accommodate the many students whose parents were working on the Big Ben Dam. He was a heavy equipment operator on this project. He along with other local volunteers helped build and furnish the Christian Missionary Alliance Church where he and his family were active members.

He married Dawn Jobe Hawkins on Sept. 28, 1946, in Mt Vernon, S.D. In 1965 with a leap of faith and his good friend, John Dougan, they bought 1,600 acres of the Lindon Ranch south of Clear Lake for $500,000, which was the biggest land sale in the history of Cerro Gordo County up until then. He was also one of five partners in Hilltop Ranch at Dows in the late 1960s along with Dougan, Clarence Hobbs and Jim Brown. Brown, after farming in South Dakota, moved back to Iowa to manage this property. In 1968 they moved to their present home in rural Manly, where he continued to farm. He enjoyed the outdoors, raising cattle and sheep and his dogs. He was a member of Bethel United Methodist Church, Manly, American Legion Tosel Post 110, Manly, and was a life member of Plankinton V.F.W.

Bob is survived by his wife of 61 years, Dawn Lutz of Manly; children: Monte Hawkins of Manly and his children, Angela (Jamie) Sorenson and their children, Kaitlyn and Kyra; D.J. (Karey) Hawkins, and their children, Kenni and Bayley; Tina (Jeff) Francis and their children, Zoey and Jacey; Mary Jane Hawkins, of Britt, and her granddaughter Olinca Padiern, Mary Jane's children, John Durgin, David (Amy) Durgin and their child, Addison; Dixie (Duane) Meyer and their children, D.J. and Daniel; Jeanne Lechuga, and her children, Cody, Cole, Coda, Crystal, Caden, Carena and Cesar; Janelle (Vern) Dannen, of Plymouth, and their children, Amy (Shad) Stoeffler, and their children, Brock and Blake; Kari (Bill) Pate, and their children, Aric, Dylin, Caileb and Abby; Aaron (Lindsey) Dannen and their children, Izac, Cloey, Owen and Wyatt; Randy (Cheryl) Lutz, of Mason City, and their children, Lisa (Pete) Roth and their child, Cooper, Jess (Jessica) Lutz; Jaime (Kathy) Lutz, of Mason City, and their children, Natasha and Ali Lutz; two brothers, Ed (Barb) Lutz and their family, of Garrison, S.D. and Tom (Ruth) Lutz and their family, of Bassett, Neb.; sister-in-law, Edrah Spielman and her family, of Springfield, Oregon; several nieces; nephews; and his 535th army family including Capt. Bill Hughes of Florida. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Melvin Lutz; sister, Esther Zundel; daughter-in-law, Sandy Hawkins; brother-in-law, Bob Jobe; sister-in-law, Sharon Clair; and numerous members of his 535th family and other family and friends.

Arrangements are with the Bride Colonial Chapel, 110 Spring St., Manly.

Mason City Globe Gazette
3/26/2008