Cruise, Lavern W.

Lavern W. Cruise, 75, of Olin, passed away Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, at his home. Funeral services celebrating his life will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, Dec. 28, at St. John's Lutheran Church in Olin, Iowa. Family and friends may call from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Lahey Funeral Home in Olin. Burial will be at the Olin Cemetery.

Lavern W. Cruise was born Jan. 25, 1938, at home in Hale Township to Wallace and Josephine (Poppe) Cruise. In 1958, he graduated from Olin High School. He was enlisted in the United States Army from 1957 to 1959. On June 24, 1961, he was united in marriage to Dorothy Krutzfield at St. John's Lutheran Church in Olin.

He farmed in earlier years until 1985 when he went into trucking, hauling cattle and hogs for area farmers. He worked in maintenance at the Anamosa Care Center until 1999, also at the Olin School as a janitor and a bus driver. Seasonally he worked with Crop Production Service in Wyoming.

He was a lifetime member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Olin and a member of the Olin Jaycees. He liked to fish, camp and deer hunt in his earlier years. He was an avid Chicago Cubs and Iowa Hawkeye fan. Lavern especially enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and loved them all dearly.

Lavern is survived by his wife, Dorothy of Olin; two children, Dean Cruise and fiancee Denise Pearson of Olin and Penny (Todd) Schmidt of Monticello; eight grandchildren, Jon and fiancee Sarah, Matt and fiancee Lorena, Katlyn, Shelby and fiance Cody, Brandon and fiancee Tyanh, Douglas, Emma and Mary; one great-grandson, Easton; one sister, Karen (Mark) Intekofer of Maquoketa; and two brothers, Marion (Rena) Cruise of Central City and Joe (Mary) Cruise of Scotch Grove.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother.

Memorials may be given to St. John's Lutheran Church or the Olin Ambulance.

Online condolences may be left for the family at .

Published in The Gazette Dec. 24, 2013.