Harley Richard URBATSCH

URBATSCH, SIPLE, KOCI, LANGESEN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/19/2014 at 15:32:44

May 5, 1918 --- January 16, 1996

Harley R. Urbatsch, 77, of Forest City, died Tuesday [Jan. 16, 1996] at his home. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Forest City, with the Rev. Gary Marzolf officiating. Burial will be in the spring at the Bohemian Cemetery in Plymouth. There will be no visitation. Petersen Lund Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be directed to Hospice of North Iowa or the United Methodist Church.

Harley Richard Urbatsch was born near Plymouth, on May 5, 1918, the son of Fred and Beulah (Siple) Urbatsch. He was baptized and confirmed at the United Methodist Church in Plymouth and graduated from Plymouth High School in 1935. He was active in basketball and baseball in school and earned his Eagle Scout award from the Plymouth troop. He attended Iowa State University and graduated in 1940 with a degree in forestry and retail lumbering. He was united in marriage to Pearl Koci of Grafton on Sept. 30, 1939, in Albany, Mo. He worked as the manager for the Plymouth branch of the Manly State Bank from 1940-1942. Harley entered the United States Navy in July of 1943 as an ensign. He had six months indoctrination at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. He served in the South Pacific on the Islands of Emirau, New Guinea and in Australia and was discharged in 1945. In February of 1946, Harley opened a retail hardware store in Goodell, where the couple lived for seven years. In Garner, he had the Coast to Coast store, sold Blue Cross-Blue Shield Insurance and Prudential Life Insurance. In 1955, he purchased the Forest City Hardware and was there until his retirement. He was a charter member of the VFW Post in Leland, the American Legion Post in Forest City, the Forest City United Methodist Church, Pheasants Forever and the NRA. Harley and Pearl enjoyed spending time at their cabin at Long Lake in northern Minnesota and had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with their family. He loved discussing politics and economics and spending time with his coffee friends.

He died at home in Forest City on Jan. 16, 1996, at the age of 77 years. Left to cherish his memory is his wife, Pearl, of Forest City; a son and his wife, Harley Urbatsch II and Pam, of Forest City; a daughter and her husband, Sue Langesen and Dean of Leland; six grandchildren, Kristin, Brian and Jamie Urbatsch and Katie, Laura, and Wendy Langesen; a brother, Forrest Urbatsch and his wife, Dorothy, of Manly; a sister-in-law, Fern Urbatsch of Albert Lea, Minn.; a brother-in-law and his wife, Lowell and Shirley Koci of Manly; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Dr. Robert Urbatsch.

Mason City Globe Gazette - Iowa
January 17, 1996