Reade, Bruce

Bruce Reade, 69, of Center Junction, died Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, at his winter home in Mission, Texas, following a sudden illness. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 6, at the Onslow Presbyterian Church, with internment in the North Madison Pioneer Cemetery. The Rev. Sharon Jensen will officiate at the services. Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Goettsch Funeral Home, Monticello.

Thoughts, memories and condolences may be left at .

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Onslow Presbyterian Church, Camp Wyoming or Camp Courageous.

Surviving are his wife, Mary; four children, Wendy (Dan) Bienemann of Clarksville, Nick (Jenn) of Kearney, Mo., Chris (Melissa) of Cedar Falls, and Darren and fiancee J'nee Offerman of Monticello.

Bruce is also survived by his seven grandchildren, Aubry, Alex and Austin Bienemann, and Caeley, Keagan, Lexus and Alice Reade, his sister, Jeannine Reade of Cedar Rapids; his brother, Brian (Dorothy) of Houston, Texas; and brother, Brock (Cheryl) of Windsor, Colo.

He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Pauline (Cramer) Reade.

Bruce Reade was born Feb. 20, 1942, at Anamosa, Iowa. He graduated from the Wyoming High School in 1960 and later attended Iowa State University. He returned to Center Junction and farmed with his father. Bruce married Mary Vratny on Jan. 22, 1972, at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids. The couple farmed until they retired in 2006. In 2001, they started taking winter vacations and settled on Mission, Texas, as a winter home in 2006, and made Marion their Iowa home in 2009.

Bruce was an active leader in many aspects of the community. He was an elder in the First Presbyterian Church of Onslow, a 4-H leader, a member of the Jones County Republican Committee and a member of the Olin Masonic Lodge. Bruce also served on many boards, including the Iowa Corn Growers Board, the Iowa Farm Business Association Board and the Jones County Fair Board. Bruce served as chairman of the Jones County Extension Services and president of the Cedar Valley Farm Business Association. Bruce also served as a member of the Midland Community School Board and served as president from 1974 until 1980, as well as the Jones County Farm Bureau Board and also provided leadership as president from 1983 to 1984. He also participated in the Policy Study Committee at the state level. Bruce also ran for a seat on the Jones County Board of Supervisors in 1996. Bruce was also a member and president of the Maquoketa Valley REC Board from 1988 to 2006. Most recently, Bruce served as the president of the Greengate Grove Home Owners Association in Mission, Texas.