Raymond Albert BLANK

BLANK, NIEMAN, VANDER PLOEG, HARMS, DAUGHERTY, SCHREUR, SORENSON, SCHOENWETTER, MARCHAND

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/1/2009 at 11:04:44

KANAWHA - Raymond Albert Blank, 85, of Kanawha, peacefully passed on to be with his Lord on Feb. 24, 2009, with his wife of 63 years at his side at the Belmond Medical Center, Belmond. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009, at the Bethany Reformed Church, 927 First St. N.E. in Belmond, with the Rev. Phillip Arnold officiating. Burial will be in the Amsterdam Township Cemetery, Kanawha. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. today at the Andrews Funeral Home, 516 First St. S.E., Belmond, and continue one hour prior to the services Saturday at the church. Those wishing to express their sympathies through a memorial in Raymond's name may direct them to the family or the donor's choice.

Ray was born Sept. 13, 1923, at his family farm northwest of Klemme. His parents were Berend and Grace (Nieman) Blank. He attended the local country school through the eighth grade. After his father passed away when Ray was 16 years old, he took over the family farm and provided for his mother and four younger sisters. On Sept. 4, 1945, Ray was united in marriage to Ann Vander Ploeg at her parents' farm. They continued to farm for a few years and then moved to Kanawha and started his carpenter business, which he continued until his illness in 2002. In 1955, Ray built his wife and children a home in Kanawha which they lived in throughout their married lives. Ray became an expert in all aspects of building, from pouring foundations and laying basement walls to plumbing and electrical, kitchen cabinets and finish work, but beginning with drawing his own blueprints. By the time he retired he could show a person his work from Northern Minnesota throughout Iowa and down into mid-Missouri, making many friends along the way. Ray delighted in telling stories of his past to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He also took great pride in taking his grandson to work with him when he was young and taking all of his grandchildren fishing. In the 1960s Ray decided to get his high school GED and was proud when he tested out at the second year of college level. Ray was a member of the Bethany Reformed Church and served as an elder for his church family. Ray will be missed by every life he has touched.

He is survived by his wife, Ann, of Kanawha; his son, Bernard (Shirley) Blank, of Yuba, Wis.; daughter, Janine Harms, of Hubert, N.C.; his grandchildren, Angela Daugherty, of Grandview, Mo., Sgt. Austen (Brandy) Harms, of Hubert, N.C., Sheena Harms, of Rapid City, S.D., and Tara Harms, of La Crosse, Wis.; his great-grandchildren, Lyndy Daugherty, Kayleen, Alexander and Haleigh Ann Harms; a sister-in-law, Marian Blank, of Garner; his sisters, Lillian Vander Ploeg, of Kanawha, Ada Schoenwetter, of Garner, Edna Schreur, of Lyndne, Wash., and Leona (Kenny) Sorenson, of Crystal Lake. Ray was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Cecil Blank; brothers-in-law, Clarence Vander Ploeg, Homer Schoenwetter, Herman Schreur and Don Marchand; a son-in-law, August Harms; and a granddaughter, Carey Blank. Andrews Funeral Home.

Mason City Globe Gazette, Iowa
February 27, 2009