Stanley T. TOMKE

TOMKE, SWIERCK, WOOD, BOEHLJE, KRUMM, LUCAS

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/19/2014 at 12:41:20

February 17, 1919 ---- September 29, 2000

CLEAR LAKE - Stanley T. Tomke, 81, of 3669 N. Shore Dr. in Clear Lake, died Friday (Sept. 29, 2000) at the Oakwood Care Center in Clear Lake. A funeral Mass will be held 11 a.m. Monday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Clear Lake, with Monsignor Robert Hogan officiating. Interment will be at the St. John's Catholic Cemetery, Clarion, with Military honors by the American Legion of Rockwell. There will be no visitation. Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, 101 N. Fourth St. in Clear Lake, is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be given to the Stanley T. Tomke Memorial Fund, for either the American Heart Association or Hospice of North Iowa.

Stan was born in Glenwood, Ill., on Feb. 17, 1919, the son of Richard and Sophie (Swierck) Tomke. His family moved to Clarion in 1922. He graduated from Clarion High School. After attending the State University of Iowa he accepted the position of assistant manager of the Farmers Co-op Elevator. Stan married Audrey Jean Wood in June of 1942, in Clarion. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1942. He received his officer commission at Duke University in Durham, N.C. He was given an on-spot promotion to Captain in Brussels, Belgium, and named Chief Disbursing Officer of the European Theater of Operations. He served three years overseas. Besides numerous medals and battle stars, he was especially proud to be awarded a special French Liberty Medal for participating in the Normandy Invasion.

Upon return from the service he accepted the management of the Farmers Co-op Society of Rockwell. At Rockwell he served as president of the Chamber of Commerce, president of Lions Club, member of the School Board, and member of the American Legion Club. He was also a member of the Goodwill Delegation to tour Europe and Russia in 1958. Along with a partner, they started a company dealing in the construction of commercial grain, feed and seed facilities. Stan and his family moved to their current residence on North Shore Drive in Clear Lake. After retirement they spent winter months in Florida. He was an avid golfer, hunter and fisherman. He was a winner of the Hartman Memorial at the Mason City Country Club, and won the state title of the Cooperative Grain Managers.

Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Audrey of Clear Lake; one son, Craig Tomke and his wife, Karen, of Hayden, Colo., a professional Big Game Outfitter; and three granddaughters, Valerie Jean Boehlje and her husband, Chad, of Pella, Kathleen Ann Krumm and her husband, Michael, of Tracy, Calif., and Krista Tomke, of Hayden, Colo.; one sister, Katherine Lucas and her husband, Larry, of Sun City, Fla.; and one brother, Richard Tomke and his wife, Annabelle, of Eagle Grove. Stanley was preceded in death by his parents, two brothers and one sister.