Blake, age 53, died at home in Lovilia. He was born June 4, 1962 to William A. and Lois (Glass) Burk in Iowa City, Iowa.
He is a United States Army veteran who served in the Desert Storm Iraq war. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, camping, talking politics, writing stories, and spending time with his family, especially his children.
He is survived by his children, Brady Michael Burk and Gretta Marie Burk of Menlo. Also, his mother, Lois Burk of Lovilia and his siblings: Vickie (Steve) Smith of Lovilia, Dan Burk of Lovilia, Jayne (Vern) Goemaat of Attica, Kathy (Paul) Woolsey of Lovilia, Elaina (Mike) Dorethy of Lovilia, and Billy Burk of Lovilia. He was preceded in death by his father and one brother, Mike Burk.
Graveside services were held at Marysville Cemetery Wednesday, September 2, 2015. May he rest in peace.
Frances Elizabeth Spears Dies at age 93
Frances died August 29, 2015 at the Monroe County Hospital in Albia, Iowa. She was born November 14, 1921 to Harry and Carrie (Newman) Tisue in Moravia. She graduated from Moravia High School in 1939. On May 31, 1942 Frances married Daniel Spears in Unionville, Missouri. They shared 48 years of marriage before he died on Sept. 13, 1990.
Frances worked most of her life as a social worker. She enjoyed crocheting, needlework and in her earlier years, square dancing. Spending time with family and friends was her real joy.
She is survived by her sons, Dennis Spears of Albia and Benny (Annette) Spears of Newton. Her daughter is Connie (Mike )Haluska of Decorah. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 32 great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, son Kenneth and a granddaughter and a great grandchild.
Funeral services were held Sept. 2, 2015 at the Tharp Funeral Home in Albia. Burial was at Union chapel Cemetery. May she rest in peace.
Lovilia Fall Festival
September 12 was the big day after over three months of planning. It opened at 2 p.m. with a car show on E Avenue with cars parked in front of city hall and the bank. John Bain signed in the participants. A plaque was given for the People’s Choice Award.
Three o’clock the Fire Dept. water fights were held. People sat on the grass and cheered them on and many kids ran close by so they could get wet from the overspray of the fire hoses. Many young people had never seen this before and really enjoyed it. Marc Etcher organized the event.
At 4 p.m. a bags tournament began at the ball diamond. Shay Ford and Tyler Ford set up the tournament. Nine teams competed. Teams of two and the top four teams won cash prizes for placing in the top four.
On the paving behind city hall were the kids games, face painting, and kids crafts. Parents as teachers did the crafts and Jessica Manser lined up the games with help from the Bluff Creek Progressives 4-H club. Also, First community credit union brought their children’s train to give rides and this was really popular with the little ones. In the community building were some vendors with crafts, jewelry, skin care products and more. Lovilia community betterment ran the food booth serving walking tacos, hot dogs, chips, soda pop, and bottled water. Besides this the 4-H club was having a bake sale and Robbie Wallace was selling Kettle corn.
Stage entertainment in front of the Community Building began at 4 p.m. too. Leading off the music was Sylvia Bain and John Bain. Followed by Hunter McAninch singing and accompanying himself on guitar. Finished the show was a four piece group of John Bain on lead guitar, Paul Hatfield on rhythm guitar, Bobbie Morney on drums, and bass guitarist from Lennox ,Iowa. They all shared in vocals. They played rousing music fro the 1950s up to recent tunes. We heard nothing but good things about these musical guests.
People could order the new Lovilia T-shirt and some who ordered them earlier were wearing them today to show community pride.
At 7 p.m. the 50/50 raffle was announced. Extra prizes were donated by Casey’s and Jim & Charlies stores. We also had mums donated for stage decor and then prizes given by Vandenberg’s green house. After the names were called and prizes handed out, came the pie in the face. Guests were asked to put money in a jar for the city councilman of their choice, mayor, fire chief, Leonard the city guy, or city clerk Patti DeGross. There were two winners so the Mayor Pat Gilbert and the Fire Chief Marc Etcher took a whip cream pie to the face. Lots of smiles and cheers for this kapow!
The finale for the festival was the 8 p.m. Lighted Parade down main street (E Avenue). Parade lineup was at City park and the parade went north to the four way stop at 19th Street. American Legion furnished a color guard of flags to lead out the parade. Gerald Sofranko was parade marshal and rode with Mike Beary in Mike’s antique vehicle. King Harold Parker and Queen Goldie Kraber rode in Merle Reginald’s convertible brimming with lights. Several fire departments sent trucks with lights blazing. Casey’s store had a big beautiful float as did Lovilia United Methodist Church. Some Shriner’s joined us with cars and one mini fire truck. We also had golf carts, motorcycles, mom’s pushing strollers and the bikes. Leading up the rear with several kids and adults on horse back with glowsticks on them for high lights. One horse even had a dog as its rider. That was quite a sight to see. Kids were happy as the ran to retrieve candy thrown out from the parade vehicles.
We had festival donors such as Casey’s, City of Lovilia, Mike Lawrence-Iowa Aluminum, People’s State Bank, G & P Insurance, Jason Summers’ Ins., Lathrop Farms, First Iowa State Bank, Bussey State Bank, Hyvee, Jim & Charlies, Bluff Creek Progressive 4-H club, and several individual donors who made this event possible. We thank you all. We also had about 25 Lovilians who met almost weekly for three months plus donating extra of their time to produce this special day. Thanks to all these folks for wanting Lovilia to have a day to celebrate.
October 1 Lovilia United Methodist Women’s Guest Day
They invite women to their guest day at 1 p.m. to hear a speaker, Lori Mercer, who made a missionary trip to South Africa. Salad luncheon is after the program at the church. Please RSVP by Sept. 26th by calling Judy Conner 641-946-7353. ( leave a message if no answer).
Oct. 4 Crop Walk
Walk starts at 1:30 p.m. at the Hamilton Methodist church and walk to Bussey Methodist church. Everyone welcome. Pledges or donations from the walkers support feeding the worlds hungry. You are invited to join the walk by Lovilia United Methodist church.
Oct. 4 Missionary Priest to Talk
During mass at St. Peter’s Catholic Church a missionary priest will visit with us and give a homily. You are welcome to be our guests at the 10:30 a.m. service.
Fireman’s Supper Oct. 8 at Lovilia Community Building
Firemen and their wives will be serving pulled pork, mac/cheese, corn, and desserts from 5pm-7pm Thursday. Carry outs will be available. Free will Donation appreciated. Hope to see you there to support your local Lovilia Fire Dept. There will be kids activities too.
Fall Dinner at St. Peter’s Catholic Church Oct. 11, Sunday
Mass is at 10:30 a.m. Lunch is served from 11am-1pm. Menu includes choice of roast beef or ham, homemade noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, dinner roll and homemade desserts. Dinner tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for kids 4-12. Under four years there is no charge. Country store open 9am-1pm with baked goods, garden produce and more. Raffle tickets available for $1000 in cash prizes. You can buy tickets in advance from church members or on picnic day. Need not be present to win.
Live auction starts at 1p.m.
Carry out meals are available by calling Ellie Davis 641-218-8169 the day before on Saturday the 10th between the hours of 8am and 10pm. Leave a message telling your full name, number of meals ordered, and time you will pick the meals up at the church hall Sunday between 11am-1pm.