Kuhnle, Carl Henry

Carl Henry Kuhnle, 96, died Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010, at Mercy, Iowa City. A celebration of life service will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Conroy. Pastor Gary Sears will officiate. Burial will be in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Conroy. Visitation will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Powell Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Williamsburg.

Carl was born March 2, 1914, in Lenox Township of Iowa County, Iowa, a son of Bernhard and Katherine (Buhr) Kuhnle. He was baptized and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Conroy. He attended Trinity Lutheran School, Hilton Consolidated School and graduated from Conroy High School in 1932. After graduation, he worked on various farms around Conroy for Allan Stanerson, Arnold Maas and Henry Plagmann Sr. He married Anna Williams on June 20, 1936. They lived in the telephone office and he worked for Herbert Stohlman on the telephone lines. It was through Everett James that he obtained work for Swift & Company, gathering poultry, eggs and cream in the country. In 1943, he purchased the grocery store in Conroy from Mrs. Black, and the same year he was appointed Postmaster of Conroy. It was through the Postmaster's office that Carl was transferred to Hiawatha, Iowa, to begin a new work as Postmaster in a new post office. Carl and Anna moved there and joined the Zion Lutheran Church, holding several offices. He was appointed in 1953 as lay delegate to Trianian Conventions in Houston, Texas, and again in 1965 to Detroit, Mich. He served as Postmaster in Hiawatha from 1957 to 1977 under appointment of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, retiring after 34 years in government service as Postmaster.

Carl and Anna lived in Council Bluffs until Anna's death in 2006, when Carl moved back to Williamsburg. Carl was a lifetime member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod, holding offices for many years in Hiawatha, and at Woodland Lutheran in Montverde, Fla. He had a great voice and loved to sing.

Carl is survived by four children, Gerald (Judith) Kuhnle of Jefferson, Wis., Kathleen (Bill) Stroh of Lincoln, Calif., Dennis (Lynn) Kuhnle of Charlotte, N.C., and the Rev. David (Eileen) Kuhnle of Honey Creek; eight grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Anna; a daughter, Patricia Kuhnle; a granddaughter, Patricia Clark; three brothers; and four sisters.

A memorial fund has been established for The Leukemia Society and American Diabetes Association. Messages and tributes may be left at under obituaries.