Under the Water Tower Lovilia News

Joan Loncarich

Joan, age 85, died March 7, 2011. She was born Oct. 7, 1925 to Reuben and Minnie Lemmons.  She married Tony Loncarich in 1943 and they spent most of their married lives in Lovilia.  Tony died last year.  She had been a secretary and a homemaker.  She has two brothers in Lovilia, Don and Jack.  Burial will be in Woodlawn Cemetery in Lovilia.

Joshua Lee Wuebker

Josh, age 29, died March 11, 2011.  He was born Aug. 20, 1981 to Kevin and Roxane (Richmond) Wuebker.  He was raised in Lovilia and educated here and then graduated from Iowa State University in 2005.  He had a degree in Agriculture studies.  In 2007 Josh and Emily Harris were married.  They were blessed with two daughters, Graecie and Bailey.  The couple later divorced.

Josh was a Lovilia Fire and Rescue Dept. member, St. Peter’s Church member, and an avid Iowa State fan.

Burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery in Lovilia.

Mary Wells

Mary Jane Wells, age 96, died March 27, 2011.  At the time of her passing she was no doubt Lovilia’s oldest resident.  She was born Sept. 7, 1914 in Truax, Iowa to Elmer and Elizabeth (Amsberry) Slay.  The family later moved and Mary graduated from Lovilia High School in 1932.

In 1936 she married W. Keith Wells and shared their lives 57 years when Keith died.  She had one daughter, Kae, of Lovilia and one son, Jimmie, of Lovilia.  She had worked over the years at Amsberry Grocery, Tierney’s Restaurant, and the Dairy Creme which were all Lovilia businesses.

A private family burial was held at Union Chapel Cemetery in Monroe County.

George F. Gilbert

George died April 1, 2011.  He was born July 23, 1934 to George S. and Frances Essex Gilbert at Grinnell, Iowa.  He graduated from New Sharon High School and the Cincinnati College of Embalming.  George served in the United States Army in Korea.

In 1955 he married Bonnie Gilliland of Oskaloosa.  They lived in Ohio and Grinnell, Iowa before putting down roots in Lovilia in 1961.  George owned and operated Gilbert Funeral Homes in Albia, Lovilia and Bussey before retiring.  For the first 27 years in Lovilia he also operated Gilbert Ambulance service.

George and Bonnie had three children who all have homes in Lovilia.  They are Mike, Pat, and Angie. They have nine grandchildren.

The funeral is April 5th at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lovilia and burial at Lovilia Woodlawn Cemetery.  Military rites by the American Legion Post of Albia and attendance and path of flags by the Patriot Guard Riders.

George besides his business in Lovilia had served the town for a time as its mayor.

We hold these Lovilian’s in our memories and extend our prayers and sympathy to the families.

Local Wrestlers Honored

Albia’s High School’s most decorated wrestling team ever was the 1985 team.  They were recently honored this year when the current Albia team won the conference championship for the first time since the 1985 team’s success.

Two of those men make Lovilia their home.  Ken Ross and Scott Hugen are lifetime residents.  Congratulations on the honor and your hard work to achieve it.  Ken has been active with ball teams in Lovilia and Scott is a current city councilman.

Lovilia Community Betterment Receives Grant

We received word that the Iowa Community Foundation would give us $3000.  This money will be used to strip clean the floors and seal them in all areas of the community building.  It will also be used to replace damaged ceiling tiles that had suffered water damage.  Any remaining funds could be used to purchase tables and chairs that needed replaced.

Community Betterment has also applied for KCCI mainstreet funds.  If they win funding it would be used to upgrade Gibson Park on the north entrance to town on highway 5.

The next meeting of the committee will be April 18 at 6:30pm at the community building in Lovilia.   Guests are welcome to come and consider joining the committee to work on projects to sustain our community.

Jewel Whicker and MacKenzie Wynn Academic Honors

Each year there is a South Central Conference Honor banquet to honor the top five percent of high school seniors from each conference school.  For Albia, that meant five students were there to receive their certificates. Jewel Whicker lives here with her family.  MacKenzie’s dad is David Wynn and her grandparents are Jerry and Camilla Wynn of Lovilia.   Well done girls!  We wish you all the best in your future education and careers.

Ted Church,M.D. Returns to Lovilia

Dr. Church and his wife Jeannie (Beary) have returned to live in rural Lovilia after some time away in Wyoming.  Dr. Church will be in practice at Monroe County Hospital and Medical clinic.  He is a board certified family practitioner and is accepting new patients.   Welcome back Ted and Jeannie!!

Archery Shoots at Lake Miami

If you want to participate, or be a spectator this is fun action right here at home.  The shoots are sponsored by Bluff Creek Archery store in Albia.

Dates are May 28-29 40 targets

June 25-26 40 Targets

July 23-24 40 targets

August 13-14 40 Targets and popups

To learn more call 641-932-2422 or 641-932-8140 or 641-799-8562.

Go out to Lake Miami for the sun, the water, and the action!!

I made an error in an earlier article on the blog about this meeting.  It is correctly set for Mar.11, 2011 at 6:30 p.m. at the Lovilia Community Building.

We invite Lovilia residents who would like to help maintain the community building and help with ideas to benefit the town to join us for our meeting and share their ideas.

We applied for money the state sends to all counties that is part of the profits from Iowa casinos.  The local group that decides who gets the money and how much is a foundation in Albia.  We will see how much money if any they gave us and decide which maintenance projects to apply it to got this year.

Shelby Wuebker makes Dean’s List

Shelby Wuebker, daughter of Kevin and Roxanne, was named to the dean’s list at Iowa State University in Ames.  This means a full time student with a B plus or better grade average.  Good work Shelby.  We are proud of you.

Kevin Keegel Opens a Business in Albia

Kevin, son of Jim and the late Donna Keegel, of rural Lovilia has opened a sporting store in Albia called Bluff Creek Archery.

He is offering archery leagues and if interested you can call him at 641-932-2422.  He and C.J. Hughes who works for Lake Miami recently sponsored an ice fishing tournament at Lake Miami.

Drop in and see what he has to offer.  It is great to see these outdoor  activities being offered at our nearby gem, Lake Miami.

Albia Business of the Year Owned by Lovilia Couple

Accent Floral and Gifts is owned by Tom and Carol Chamberlain.

They opened in Lovilia five years ago in what years ago was the Amsberry grocery store building ( which has since then burned to the ground).  They operated a lovely store there for almost a year but decided to move to Albia to reduce the cost of delivering flowers and to serve a larger customer base.

They sell flowers, gifts, greeting cards, Iowa wines, and candy they make on site.  Tom also runs the Gas N Go convenience store and the car wash here in Lovilia.  He also runs a carwash in Albia and Centerville.   Congratulations to both Tom and Carol !

Manser Family House Fire in December

Manser’s home is the home on the South end built by Marvin Franzen.  In December they had a fire in the kitchen that resulted in some smoke and water damage.  They are currently renting another home in Lovilia but hope to return to their home when repair work is finished.  We hope they can do so soon.

City has the 2010 Census Results

Lovilia had 583 residents in the 2000 census.  The 2010 numbers show we lost 45 citizens and now have a total of 538.

Many of them are young people who left town to pursue education and jobs such as my three children.  Our biggest problem in rural Iowa are jobs which provide a living wage for a family.  If you can find an answer for that Lovilia could grow once more.

Another way we could grow is for baby boomers to move home to their hometown.  Several people did that about thirty years ago but none recently.  At that time Catherine Ross and her husband Bob retired from the big city to here and so did her brother and wife, Joe and Elizabeth Carr.  They were a great addition to town.  Catherine along with Eleanora Sofranko coauthored both the Lovilia History book and the St. Peter’s Church History book.  Joe helped me put out a  Lovilia News paper periodically for two years.

So baby boomers come home!!  Why?  We have low cost housing, great building sites, low taxes,  low crime rate , free parking, and low traffic.

We have fire protection , city water,city sewer, gas, electricity, phone service, high speed internet, garbage collection, and cable TV.

We have our own bank, post office, funeral home, two convenience stores, two taverns, music recording studio, and music teacher (guitar, piano, drums,etc.).  We have our headstart school( they can use senior volunteers).  We have a senior citizen meal site where you can have a superb meal and visit with friends on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday if you like.  Or you can drop in occasionally.  We have three churches,  United Methodist, Catholic, and one non-denominational.  We have two tire repair shops that also sell new tires and do some car services and one sells live bait for fisherman going to ponds or Lake Miami.  We are near two of the best recreation lakes in Iowa, Red Rock and Rathbun.

WE are one hour from any culture, shopping, government, etc. at the state Capitol of Des Moines.

We have the best of both worlds.  A beautiful quiet pastoral setting and proximity to anything else you want with just a 60 mile trip.  Save money and enjoy safe friendly country living and move home to Lovilia.  We welcome you.

St. Peter’s Lenten Services

Stations of the Cross will be at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays starting Mar. 15th.

Food pantry donations will be collected as usual at the first weekend mass of each month.

Mar.8, Tuesday there will be a Fat Tuesday Potluck supper in the rectory basement starting at 7pm.  Bring a dish to share and come for fellowship.

Ash Wednesday mass will be at 6pm.

This comes from the history book co-author’s grand-daughter, Margaret Pierce Dwiggins of Ohio.  She is the daughter of Mary Pat Pierce.

Due to popular demand we (her family) have decided to do another printing of the book Catherine Ross and Ellie Sofranko wrote on the history of Lovilia.  The cost to order one would be about $25, maybe less if enough orders are placed for more than 20 books to be printed.  She would like to order them by Friday of this week, February 25, 2011.

If you want to order one or more books email Margaret :  margmania@aol.com

If you didn’t get one the first time, here is your chance.  If you want more for kids or grandkids, here is your chance.  I have an original and find it fascinating every time I refer to it for data.

MacKenzie Wynn  Leading Scorer for Lady Dees Team

MacKenzie is the grand-daughter of Jerry and Camilla Wynn of Lovilia.  Her father is David Wynn of Albia.

She is a four year starter with the Lady Dees basketball team and will graduate this year as the all-time leading scorer( this is since girls play five player ball).  Lady Dees is the Albia Community High School team.

Congratulations MacKenzie!

Lovilia United Methodist Church will be holding an After School Program each Thursday during the month of March, 4:30-6:00 p.m. at the church.  All school-aged children are welcome.  Supper will be provided free of charge.  Come for food, fun, and learning about Jesus!

All singers in the Lovilia area are invited to join in performing a Lent-Easter cantata, “Come Walk With Me”.  Rehearsals are each Sunday evening (the first one was Feb.13) at 6:30p.m. at the Bussey United Methodist Church.  The performance will be the evening of Sunday, April 17th.

If you have any questions contact Pastor Dale Schoening at daschoening@gmail.com.

Sandy Winegardner sends this update of three alumni who have died recently:

Albert E. Massick who lived in Knoxville, Iowa and was a graduate of the 1939 class.

Carroll Dorman of Oklahoma who was a graduate of the 1951 class.

Elna Lucas Papich, of Albia, Iowa who was a member of the class of 1933.

May they rest in peace.

Crystal Millang of 908 South F Avenue is looking for some commercial property in Lovilia where she could  build a photography studio.

If you have a property for sale that may meet her needs or know of one please call her at 641-780-7445.

Thanks for any information you can give her.

Daniel F. Lenger

Danny died at age 76 on Jan.18,2011.  His parents were Albert and Kathryn (Flahive) Lenger.  He was born in Monroe County on Feb. 25,1934.   He served in the army stationed  in Germany.  He married Alice Coleen Sterner at St. Peters Catholic church in Lovilia onJune20,1959.

He was a farmer all his life  and worked for the following businesses:  Maytag, John Morrell, Gordon Massman construction and Clow Mfg.

He and Colleen had six children:  Denise, Ann, Mary, Danny, Jim, and Timmy (who died in infancy).  They also have eleven grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren.

Internment was at St Mary’s Cemetery, Albia, Iowa

Alice Marie Malone

Alice died at age 74 on January 18, 2011.  She was born on August 11, 1936 to Price and Ethel (Plum) Bain on their farm in Bluff Creek Township.  She married John F. Malone at the Little Brown Church on Feb. 19, 1955.  She and John had three children:  Joan, Dennis, and Douglas.  They were blessed with eight grandchildren.

Alice worked at Trophy Glove in Albia for 25 years and was a homemaker.

Burial was in Woodlawn Cemetery, Lovilia, Iowa.

Chad and Alina McIntyre are parents to a new baby girl, Scarlett Anne, born Dec.23, 2010 at 9pm.  She was 9lbs 13oz. and 22.5 inches long.  Alina’s parents are Tim and Sandra Welsh of rural Lovilia. Great Grandparents were the late Bill and Pauline Welsh. Scarlett has two sisters to welcome her.  Chad and Alina live just west of town.  Congratulations to the family with this new blessing!

Albert Lee Davis Died December 30, 2010

Albert was 90 years old.  The body was cremated and memorials are designated for Hospice of Central Iowa and can be sent to 5597 113th Lane, Lovilia, Iowa 50150.  A celebration of life with military rites will be held later.  You may read the full obituary and leave a condolence by going on line to sinnottpierschbacher.com.  Our sympathy is with his widow and family.

Lovilia Woodland Cemetery Computer Site

Lovilia woodland Cemetery is being put on the computer in detail by Steve Stewart.  You now can find persons by name and location of their grave spot.  Also obituaries are there if Steve has them.

If you have any obituary not there, Steve would like to include a copy of it on the postings.  To view the site, got to http://iamonroe.org/cemetery/woodlawn/woodlawnframes.htm  Having looked at the sight, I can say it is very good and should  aid people doing family history research,etc.

Bob Crumley, native of Lovilia wrote:  In reading your recent blog about Les Steven’s death,I thought about him and some of his story.  In an interesting way he was really a famous son of Lovilia.  His folks, Floyd and Aimee Amsberry, ran the grocery store downtown in the corner building that burned down a few years ago.  (the one next door to the former Masick barber shop).  His brother, Kenny Stevens, who died recently was a classmate of my sister and graduated with the LHS Class of 1957.  I remember as a kid, Les was very interested in track and field.  We younger kids use to get a kick out of watching him practice his pole vaulting in the yard at his house.  He was the only kid in school who seemed to be interested or good enough to stick with his love of the sport.  I remember him being a hurdler and he was really good as a pole vaulter.  He’d go to track meets and be the only Lovilia kid competing.  There were newspaper stories about him and his gaining the reputation as “Lovilia’s One Man Track Team”.  He was talented enough that he went on to participate in track at the University of Iowa.  We were all proud of him and I think he was a track star at Iowa.  If my memory serves me, he went on to have a long and successful career as a high school and college track coach.  His story is a most interesting and inspiring one.  He certainly inspired a bunch of kids around Lovilia to work hard and to be as good as they might be in their pursuit of worthwhile goals in life.  I’m sure there are many others from home that have great memories of Les Stevens, our one-man track team.

The following facts were gleaned from google:

In 1951 he won 3 individual events in a single state track meet in 180 low hurdles, 120 high hurdles, and the high jump.

At the University of Iowa he was the leading scorer of track and field for 3 years.  His best events there were hurdles and high jump.

He later coached high school, junior college, and at the University of Iowa and Central Missouri State University.

Jeff Caudill who lives just outside the city limits south on Hwy 5, joined three other comedians for a comedy show at the resort on Friday, December 3rd.  The show started at 9pm and Jeff, Greg Althoff, Joel Fry, and Ben Ulin kept the jokes flying till well past 11pm.  It was great to enjoy this show without a trip to a DesMoines club.  Hopefully, they will have more such entertainment for us folks in the outback.  Good luck with your career, Jeff!  To make the Lovilia connection:  Jeff is married to Jessica, daughter of Julie, daughter of Kay, daughter of Keith and Mary Wells.  That should connect the generations for all our readers!

House is demolished

The house east of Steve Bunch and north of Bob Beary was demolished. To finish up the foundation and a felled train need to be removed.  One less house on the east side of the highway.

New Homeowner

The home formerly lived in by Keith and Mary Wells has been sold to Jennifer Chamberlain.  She is the daughter of Calvin and Pam Chamberlain.  We hope she will enjoy her new quarters for many years to come.

December 5, Sunday Special Guest Visits St. Peter’s Hall

The parish family coop supper for the annual Christmas season was held with a food table groaning with homemade noodles, bread, pies, and other great Iowa food.  Sharon Stoffer led the children in Christmas bingo and tree decoration game.  Then Marsh Benjamin had a cookie craft for the kids to make and eat.  As they finished the craft project, a guest knocked at the kitchen door.  In walked the man in red, Santa Claus!.  The word was passed and the children lined up to sit on his lap and give him their special wish for a gift.  Santa heard lots of requests for the Wii, box 360, and kindles.  Then a little girl brought a tear to Santa’s eye when she said she just wanted  some paper.  Santa said he was sure that was one request he could fill.  He mumbled something about the good old days when all the kids requests were that simple and sighed.  Then with a ho ho ho he gave each child a bag of food treats from the St. Peter ladies.  He then  told the crowd he had to leave and visit other good children and hear their wishes.

Community Betterment Committee Elects New 2011 Officers

Friday, Dec. 10, Ron Conner was elected President, Fred Kraber was chosen to continue as treasurer, and Susan Beary is the new secretary.

Discussion was held about applying for a Iowa Community Foundation grant. The application deadline is Dec. 31st.  This money is from gifts and from gambling profits from Iowa casinos.  Non-profit groups can apply each year for funding.  If our  project is funded we will be notified March 1st.

Fred stated a new memorial board was made.  Also, a plaque naming donors for the new furnace/air conditioning system  would soon be ready to display in the community building.

The next meeting will be March 2, 2011 at the Community building at 6:30pm.  If you are interested in helping the community building be a well cared for  asset to the town and to help with community development projects, come join us at the meeting.  New volunteers are welcome.