Obituary of Lavern Francis Petsche

Dyersville, Iowa Lavern F. Petsche, 91, of Dyersville, died Sunday, May 24, 2015, at Stonehill Care Center in Dubuque after a brief illness. Visitation will be held from 3:00 – 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at the Kramer Funeral Home, 750 12th Ave SW in Dyersville where a parish vigil will be held at 3:00 p.m. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, May 28, 2015, at St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville with burial in St. Francis Cemetery. Rev. Dennis Quint will officiate. Lavern was born January 30, 1924, near Guttenberg, Iowa the son of Albert and Lottie (Spoden) Petsche. He married Norma Jaeger on August 17, 1946, at St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville. Together they farmed near Clayton until they moved to Dubuque where he began working for the Dubuque Packing Company. In 1957, they moved to a farm near Holy Cross. They moved to Dyersville in 1971, and he retired from the Dubuque Pack in 1981. He enjoyed searching for and restoring antique furniture. He was very proud of the fact that he had a driver’s license for over 75 years with no accidents on his record. He is survived by his wife, Norma, 4 children: Duane (Sharon) Petsche of DeWitt, Kay Herman of Dubuque, Mary (Doug) Jones of Shueyville, Karen (Carl) Bries of Luxemburg; 11 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren, a sister, Bernice Blunk of Garnavillo; in-laws: Marilyn (Pat) Werner of Dyersville, Bill Jaeger, John (Ruth) Jaeger, both of Manchester, Leo (Diane) Jaeger of Kenton, OH, Leroy Jaeger of Earlville and Loras (Mikki) Jaeger of Davenport. He was preceded in death by 2 sons-in-law, Hugo Oberbroeckling and Fred Herman; 3 brothers: Ted (Mildred) Petsche, Lawrence (Leola) Petsche, and Donald Petsche; a sister, Irene (Urban) Jaeger; siblings-in-law: Verni Blunk, Jeanne Ann and Eldon Jaeger in infancy, Joan (George) Helle, Della Rose Downey, Eileen (John) Appel; in-laws: Anita Jaeger, Diane Jaeger, Mary Ann Jaeger. We would like to thank Hospice of Dubuque and Stonehill Care Center for the excellent care over these last few weeks.