Francis Boeding

FRANCIS BOEDING

Hopkinton

Francis Boeding, 87, died Monday, May 7, 2018, at the Good Neighbor Home in Manchester. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, May 11, at St. Luke's Catholic Church, Hopkinton, with interment in the Hopkinton Cemetery. Father Paul Baldwin will officiate. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the church, where a parish vigil service will begin at 4 p.m. Visitation will resume at 9:30 a.m. Friday until service time.

Thoughts, memories and condolences may be left at www.goettschonline.com.

He is survived by his wife, Lois; nine children, Mary Ann Blanchard, Hopkinton, Doris (Dick) Cambridge, Cedar Rapids, Dan (Karen) Boeding, Cedar Rapids, Dennis (Carolyn) Boeding, Anamosa, Susan (Gerald) Beitz, Monticello, Lori (Darrell) Reyner, Monticello, Don (Kathy) Boeding, Dundee, Vic (Leann) Boeding, Manchester, and Cheri (Mitch) Orcutt, Delhi; a son-in-law, Dick Milroy, Monticello; a daughter-in-law, Patricia Boeding, Hopkinton; 30 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and five siblings.

He was preceded in death by a son, David; a daughter, Joyce Milroy; three grandchildren; two sons-in-law, Gerald and Tom; and six siblings.

Francis Eugene Boeding was born Nov. 29, 1930, in St. Lucas, Iowa, the son of Henry and Alvira Naber Boeding. He received his education in rural Petersburg. Francis married Lois Kirby on Nov. 28, 1950, at Immaculate Conception Church, Masonville.

Francis worked as a farmhand and also at Rath Packing Co. in Waterloo. In 1951, the couple moved to Hopkinton. Francis then worked at Wilson Foods in Cedar Rapids for 27 years. Francis and Lois operated a day care for many children. He also raised chickens, dairy cows and huge vegetable gardens. He also drove a grain truck for Siddell Trucking. He was a giving man who enjoyed fishing, hunting, reading, working and helping others.