Cleo V. ?Butch? Gingerich

KALONA ? Cleo V. ?Butch? Gingerich, 82, of Kalona, died Sunday, March 20, 2011, in Mercy Hospital in Iowa City following a lingering illness.

A celebration of life service will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 23, at the Kalona Mennonite Church in Kalona with the Rev. Scott Swartzendruber and the Rev. Mick Murray officiating. Burial will follow at the South Gingerich Cemetery in rural Kalona. Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Peterseim Funeral Home in Kalona, where the family will greet friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. A memorial fund has been established for the Kalona Mennonite Church and the Kalona First Responders.

Mr. Gingerich was born July 25, 1928, in rural Washington County, the son of Cornelius and Ruhama (Yoder) Gingerich. He married Dorothy Swartzendruber on June 12, 1956, at Bethel Mennonite Church in Wayland.

He graduated from Kalona High School in 1947. He served in 1W in Eldora at the Boys Training Facility. He was employed at the Maplecrest Turkey Processing Plant in Kalona, Pepperidge Farms in Iowa City, and as a security guard at Sheller-Globe and National Computer Systems in Iowa City. He was baptized in his youth at the East Union Mennonite Church. He was a member of the Iowa City Mennonite Church for several years and then became a member of the Kalona Mennonite Church. He enjoyed traveling, nature and watching football, basketball, figure skating and auto racing.

Surviving are his wife; one daughter, Marsha Diener and husband Arlis of Kansas City, Kan.; one son, Vaughn Gingerich of Kalona; and a number of nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, Emmett Gingerich; and four sisters, Hettie Hoylman, Ida Yoder, Mena Pauline Langlas, and Dorothy Gingerich.