Robert LaGrange

ROBERT LAGRANGE

Vinton

Robert Arthur "Bob" LaGrange, 85, died peacefully Thursday, July 28, 2016, at the Vinton Lutheran Home.

A memorial visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, July 31, at Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home in Vinton. A celebration of Bob's life will be at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, at the Vinton Fire Station.

Bob was born Nov. 10, 1930, in Vinton, to Robert Arthur (Art) and Katherine Black LaGrange. He graduated from Vinton High School in 1948 and the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in 1952.

On June 22, 1952, he married Jane Vauthrin in Melbourne, Iowa. They lived briefly in Vinton before Bob was inducted into the Army, where he served as a pharmacist at the U.S. Army Hospital in Camp Chaffee, Ark., from 1952 to 1954.

Bob and Jane then returned to Vinton, where Bob joined his father and became a partner at LaGrange Pharmacy, where he worked until shortly after son Mike joined him as a pharmacist. Bob was proud of the fact that he was one in a long line of pharmacists, following his grandfather, Theodore, his father, Art, and being followed by his son, Mike, and now his grandson, Dan. Bob retired from the pharmacy in 1994.

He was active in a number of organizations and causes, including longtime member and past president of Kiwanis, past president of Vinton Library Board, founding member of Benton County Flyways Ducks Unlimited, past president of Old Creamery Nature Trail, which he helped develop and where he continued to serve, member of the ACT 1, where he took part in a number of community theater plays, past board member of Izaak Walton League, past board member of the Old Creamery Theatre Company, and most recently, a committee member of the Red Cedar River Project.

But his biggest love was the Vinton Fire Department, where he served as a volunteer firefighter from 1956 to 1992, and as secretary from 1957 to 1989. Bob developed his love for firefighting from the time he was a little boy and never lost interest, which continued throughout his life.

Bob is survived by wife, Jane; his children, Connie (Dave) Schuelka of Rochester, Minn., Mike (Diane) of Vinton and Ted (Mary) of Lincoln, Neb.; six grandchildren, Sarah (Jake) Austin of Cedar Falls, Matt (Emily) Schuelka of Birmingham, England, Dan (Ali) LaGrange of Vinton, Jill (Omaid) Zabih of Omaha, Neb., Ben LaGrange of Lincoln, Neb., and Amanda Schuelka of Tybee Island, Ga.; and six great-grandchildren, Zoey, Charlotte, Weston, Cobie, Arthur and William.

He was preceded in death by his parents, an infant brother, and a granddaughter, Laura Katherine Schuelka.

A memorial fund has been established.

Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home is caring for Bob and his family. Condolences may be left at www.vsrfh.com.