Ormal Lewis PALS

PALS, SCHULTE, GRUIS, NICHOLSON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/16/2011 at 17:24:57

May 24, 1922 ---- July 9, 2011

Ormal L. Pals, 89, of Belmond, died on Saturday, July 9, 2011, at the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond. Services were held on Tuesday, July 12, at the Immanuel Reformed Church east of Belmond, with burial in the church cemetery. Graveside military rites were provided by the Belmond Honor Guard.

Ormal Lewis, the son of Hilko and Ellen Schulte Pals, was born on May 24, 1922, on the family farm near Alexander. He graduated from the Alexander High School in 1940 and began working as a farmer for his father and other neighbors. On December 22, 1944, he married Hildegarde Gruis of Meservey. In April 1945, Ormal was drafted into the U.S. Navy and was stationed at Bangor, Washington. The couple lived in Bremerton for a year. After his discharge in May 1946, they returned to Iowa and began farming south of Meservey. Ormal continued farming and moved into Meservey in 1979. He retired from farming in 2000 and moved to Belmond in 2006. Ormal was a member of Immanuel Reformed and served on the Meservey-Thornton School Board. Ormal and Hildegarde enjoyed 27 years of wintering in Arizona. After moving to Belmond he enjoyed going to coffee at Bloemkes. Ormal liked playing cards and golfing. He also enjoyed traveling the U.S. and Europe.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Loretta Nicholson; brother and sister-in-law, Lambert and Florence Pals; and brother-in-law, Harvey (and his wife Jean) Gruis. Ormal is survived by his wife, Hildegarde; daughter, Veralyn of Chadron, Nebraska; son, Vaughn (Jane) of Meservey; grandchildren, Brandon (Liming) of Clear Lake and Jonathan of Woodbury, Minnesota; great-grandson, Daniel; and sister-in-law, Marjorie Gruis of Belmond.

Belmond Independent - Belmond, Iowa
July 12, 2011