Lois was born August 24, 1926 to Fred H. and Clara Ellen (Cook) Clark. She received all her schooling in Lovilia and graduated from the high school in the class of 1944.
Oct. 30, 1944 she married Roscoe Wayne Walter. They were married 56 years when Roscoe died in 2001.
Lois was active in the United Methodist church and their women’s group, American Legion Auxiliary, and the Order of Eastern Star. The last six years she was in a care unit in Pella.
She and Roscoe had four children: Dennis and (Sue) Walter of Knoxville; Harry and (Jane) Walter of Newton; Connie Lane and (Mark) of Knoxville; and Kevin and (Toni) Walter of Albia, Iowa.
They were blessed with ten grandchildren and twenty-one great grandchildren.
Funeral services were May 19, 2012 at the Lovilia United Methodist Church and burial was at the Lovilia Woodlawn Cemetery.
Memorials were established for the Lovilia Woodlawn Cemetery Association or the Lovilia United Methodist Church.
Celebration Breakfast at St. Peter’s Hall on Sunday May 20,2012
Guests ate pancakes, sausage, fresh fruit salad, coffee, milk, juice, and the fixings prepared by the women of the church. Logan Stalzer was celebrating his first communion. Aaron Kurimski (Albia Comm. H.S.) and Laura Davis ( Twin Cedars H.S.) were celebrating their high school graduations. Congratulations to all of you! Aaron will study mechanical engineering at Iowa State University this fall. Laura will attend Truman State University and start pre-law studies.
Also honored at the feast were the boys and girls who help the church as altar servers. This includes: Aaron Kurimski, Marty Beary, Brett Nace, Hunter McAninch, Cole Kurimski, Daniel Beary, Kade Dunkin, Hailey Kurimski, Jer McAninch, Savannah Stalzer and Nathaniel Wynn.
Memorial Day Observances in Lovilia
The Veterans Honor Guard held services in memory of our service men and women at both St. Peter’s and Woodlawn cemeteries on Monday. Merrill Baker spoke of their service and sacrifice for our country. Gerald Sofranko led attendees in prayer. Frank Massick was commander of the gun salute. Riflemen were Jim Toopes, Lenny Toopes, Jr. Blomgren, Bill McCombs, and Charger Ross. Playing a recording of taps was John Duprey. We thank them for their military service and for coming to honor the other servicemen and women who have served in the past and are serving today to protect our freedoms.
An appropriate poem written by Major Kelly Strong and shared to us by Jerry Ethell follows:
Freedom is not Free
I watched the flag pass by one day, it fluttered in the breeze,
A young man in uniform saluted it, and then he stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform—so young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert, he’d stand out in the crowd.
I thought how many men like him had fallen through the years?
How many died in foreign soil?
How many mother’s tears?
How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, freedom is not free.
I heard the sound of taps one night, when everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play and felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times that taps had meant “Amen”
When a flag had draped a coffin of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children, of mothers and the wives
Of fathers, sons, and husbands, with interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard at the bottom of the sea,
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom is not free.
These are sentiments we should recall everyday of the year. May these unselfish men and women now rest in peace.
Remember the barber, Jim Cummings?
Jerry Ethell heard from his grandson after Marlene Papich, his sister-in-law, told him about this blog site.
Chuck Terrell lived in Lovilia until he was four years old. His family then moved to Chariton, Iowa where he attended grade school. Next the family went to Peoria, Illinois where his father worked at the Caterpillar plant. Chuck finished high school there and joined the Air Force. Following his service he worked for Caterpillar and joined the Illinois National Air Guard. He has been retired since 1991. Once married he has now been divorced for 40 years.
As a youngster he spent a lot of the summer days at his grandparents and knew all the town boys who were in Jerry Ethell’s class. He currently lives in Bartonville, Illinois. He says when he dies he will return to Lovilia and be buried next to his parents in St. Peter’s Cemetery.
Smokey Smith Book is a Great Read
On an earlier post I mentioned this book about the famous country music promoter and DJ for KRNT radio and TV in DesMoines in the 1960 time period. I had a chance to read the book and it is a very fun read. If you like the performers from that time he tells great personal stories of Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, June Cash, Minnie Pearl, etc. that he knew and worked with himself. Also, the chapter about the Ponderosa Club in Lovilia where Smokey’s own band played as well as national performers that he brought there like Carl Perkins alone is worth the book .
These Lovilia people are quoted in the book: George Gilbert, Merrill Baker, Pauline Welsh, Junior Blomgren, Rowena Shelford, Donna Shelford, Bonnie Gilbert, Doran Haywood, and Bill McCombs (Milo’s son).
These Country performers played in Lovilia at the Ponderosa:
Carl Perkins, Marvin Rainwater, Dave Dudley, Little Jimmy Dickens, Mac Wiseman, Justin Tubb, James O’Gwynn, Leroy Van Dyke, Merle Kilgore, Webb Pierce, Red Sovine, Marion Worth, Del Reeves, and Johnny Western.
You can go to my earlier blog and read how to order the book or the CD recorded live at the Ponderosa. If you like country this stuff is all gold!
Classof 1962 will Celebrate their 50th Class Reunion in June
Lovilia had 20 students in that graduating class. The superintendent was O. T. Huffman and the class sponsor was Opal Huffman.
Class officers were: Pres. Don Etcher, V-pres. Bill Ballalatak, Sec. Judy Weldon (Conner now), and Treasurer Elaine Plum. There is one deceased class member, Ronnie Jones. Judy Weldon was the last member of the class to receive her diploma and the last student to graduate from Lovilia High School.
We will write a follow up story about the reunion.