Louis 'Louie' Reinhardt Marz

LOUIS "LOUIE" REINHARDT MARZ

Homestead

Louis "Louie" Reinhardt Marz, 94, formerly of Homestead, Iowa, died peacefully of natural causes at his home in Las Cruces, N.M., Saturday evening, Nov. 18, 2017. A Celebration of Life service will be held at a later date.

Louis was born Oct. 29, 1923, in Homestead, the son of John Jacob Marz and Henrietta (Kolb) Marz. As a boy, he attended the Amana schools. Following graduation in 1941, Louis attended Coe College. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 where he served as an engineer. He completed civil engineering training at the Virginia Military Institute and was deployed overseas on his birthday in 1944 as part of the 282nd Engineering Combat Battalion.

As the war was coming to an end, Louis was wounded from enemy fire while building a bridge at Echternach, Luxemburg, in 1945, and went on to receive a Purple Heart for the injury that almost took his life. He, along with several hundred other servicemen from the Greatest Generation, made the trip to Washington, D.C., 70 years later as part of the Cedar Rapids Honor Flight program on Sept. 11, 2011.

Following his return to the States after World War II, Louis completed his education at Iowa State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. Louis went on to work at Amana Refrigeration Inc. as a design engineer his entire working career. He married Dorothy Berger on Nov. 12, 1949. The couple later divorced.

He married Caroline Brandt on Jan. 16, 1987. They made their home in both Homestead, Iowa, and Las Cruces, N.M.

Louis' lifetime passions included being a founding member of the Amana Heritage Society and serving as an elder at the Amana Church. Additionally, he was an active member of the Homestead Welfare Club, a 50-year member of the Masonic Lodge and 32nd degree Scottish Rite. His hobbies included teaching and playing bridge, tennis, crossword puzzles, ISU Cyclone football, traveling and caring for his beloved English sheepdogs most recently his "good girl" Roxie.

After retirement, Louis also volunteered at the Amana Heritage Museum and the Farm & Ranch Museum in Las Cruces.

Louis was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Helen Dittrich; and brother, Fritz Marz.

Louis is survived by his wife, Caroline; sister-in-law, Ellen Mae Marz; daughter, Mary (Tom) Burgher of East Amana; son, Dr. Mark (Marti) Marz of Cedar Rapids; stepchildren, Alan Cerwick of San Antonio, Texas, and Brigitte Cerwick of Coppell, Texas; grandchildren, Laura (Keith) Simmonds, Andrew (Stephanie) Marz, Liesl (Daniel) Yunek, Fritz Burgher and Mackenzie and Justin Cerwick; and three great-grandchildren, Daniel and Anna Simmonds and Everett Yunek.

Memorials may be contributed to the Amana Church Society, Amana Heritage Society or the Mesilla Valley Hospice.