Leo J. Bentler

Leo J. Bentler, 88, of St. Paul, died Thursday afternoon, July 15, 2004, after being involved in an automobile accident north of St. Paul.

      The Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m., Monday, July 19 at St. James' Catholic Church in St. Paul, with the Father Gary Beckman officiating. Burial will be in St. James' Cemetery with full military rites conducted by the American Legion Post #668 of West Point. Visitation will begin after 2 p.m. Sunday, July 18 at the church. A rosary will be recited at 3 p.m. with a Christian Vigil Service at 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Marquette Schools, West Point Public Library or St. James Catholic Church.

      Mr. Bentler was born Dec. 7, 1915, in Houghton, the son of Joseph and Diena Holtkamp Bentler. He married Catherine M. Dingman Jan. 20, 1943, at St. James' Catholic Church. He was a World War II Army veteran and a member of the American Legion of West Point. He was a lifelong resident of the Houghton-St. Paul area and was a retired farmer. He was a member of St. James' Catholic Church of St. Paul, a 4th degree Knights of Columbus of West Point and past president of the Lee County Cattlemen Association. He was an avid reader.

      Survivors include his wife; two sons, Joe Bentler of St. Paul, and Mark and his wife Cathy Bentler of Fort Madison; three daughters, Joan and her husband Larry Steffensmeier of St. Paul, Bonnie Menke of Pilot Grove, and Mary Ellen and her husband Steve Wagenecht of Davenport; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren; two brothers, Tony Bentler of Mt. Pleasant, and Frank Bentler of Fort Madison; five sisters, Rosina Sanders and Agnes Fullenkamp, both of West Point, Gert Berg of Iowa City, and Dorothy Pollmiller and Rita Meyer, both of Davenport; and extended family, Leo, Maria Lucianna and Gabriela Arcoverde of Brazil.

      He was preceded in death by his parents, a daughters, two grandchildren, a brother and two sisters.