116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Obituaries
The Gazette publishes obituaries on a daily basis. Use the search field above to search for obituaries by name or keyword. Readers can submit an obituary or submit a milestone to The Gazette. The obituary must be submitted before 1 p.m. for publication on thegazette.com at 6 p.m. and in the daily edition the next day, with the exception of obituaries for Sunday publication, which must be submitted by 1 p.m. on Fridays.
Robert Arens
ROBERT ARENS
Cedar Rapids
Robert "Bob" Joseph Arens, 77, of 3303 Badger Dr. SW, Cedar Rapids, died Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014, after a long illness at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy, Hiawatha. Services: 2 p.m. Monday at St. Jude
Catholic Church, by the Rev. Mark Reasoner. Friends may visit with the family Monday at St. Jude Church after 1 p.m. Burial: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Mount Carmel Cemetery, Lawler. Teahen Funeral Home is serving the family.
Bob is survived by his wife, Kathy; three daughters, Annette (Patrick) Verdun of Johnston, Bernadette (Rick) Shearer of Woodbury, Minn., and Collette (Troy) Bates of Cedar Rapids; five sons, John (Jill) of Shawano, Wis., Mark (Missi) of Farmington, Minn., Paul (Kristine) of Coralville, Greg (Rita) of Lee's Summit, Mo., and Leon (Lynn) of Cedar Rapids; seven grandsons and nine granddaughters.
Bob was born Aug. 12, 1936, in New Hampton, the son of Norbert and Winifred Sattler Arens. He graduated from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grade School, Lawler High School, and the Dunwoody Institute, where after graduation he taught for two years. He married Kathleen Ruemmele on Aug. 18, 1962, in Hudson, Wis. He owned and operated the Lawler Oil Co. until he sold his business in 1986. He then worked for the Sieg Co. for 10 years and Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Lawler for 10 years.
He was a member of St. Jude Catholic Church and a former member of Mount Carmel Church.
Bob was a 50-year member of Cath-olic Order of Foresters at Lawler and an assistant Boy Scout leader for two years. He was involved in the Lawler community by being a member of the Lawler Businessmen Club and had served as firefighter for the Lawler Volunteer Fire Department.
He was an usher and Eucharistic minister at Mount Carmel Church, where he assisted the Rev. Delay in establishing the CCD program after the Catholic school closed. He taught CCD classes for high school students for many years both in homes and at the CCD center in Lawler.
Bob enjoyed visiting with neighbors and as an avid cook and baker, loved new recipes, especially for breads and caramels at Christmas. Though he always found time to watch sports on television, particularly auto racing, he liked listening to the radio.
He was always a big fan of watching his children and grandchildren as they participated in their activities. During his years as a janitor and maintenance man for Mount Carmel, he would take time to mentor kids who needed service hours.
Memorials may be directed to the family.
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.teahenfuneral home.com.
Daily Newsletters