Charles Oliver Lund

Charles “Chuck” Oliver Lund passed away peacefully on September 23, 2020 at Mercy One Hospital in Waterloo surrounded by his family. He was born on December 21, 1926 in Audubon County, Iowa to Chris and Minnie (Rasmussen) Lund, the third of ten children. He attended school in Gray until he joined the Navy in 1944 and served during World War II. Following the war, he returned to Iowa and earned his high school diploma from Garrison High School. He met Ruth Bernice Utesch on a train to Waterloo in 1947, and each of them said that the other winked first. That sparked the flame that resulted in their marriage on February 6, 1948 that spanned 63 years until Ruth’s passing in 2011. Charles worked at John Deere Tractor Works, retiring in 1985 after 34 years of employment as a painter on the line. In 1950 they purchased a farm in Brandon where they lived until they retired in 1990 to a home in La Porte City. Charles loved to play cards, ping-pong, organize a pick-up game of any type, and still completed a crossword puzzle every day. He loved nothing more than to be surrounded by his family of five children, sixteen grandchildren, and twenty-one great-grandchildren.
He is survived by his children, Margie Smith of Independence, Bob (Peggy) Lund of La Porte City, Tom (Jennifer) Lund of Brandon, Karen (Jerry) Lesh of Marion and Janet (Dave) Harwood of Grimes; his grandchildren Michelle (Brian) Stevens of Cedar Rapids, Chad (Jill) Smith of Cedar Falls, Angela Lund Logan of Machesney Park, IL, Sheri Lund of La Porte City, Eric Lund of Ankeny, Mallori (Jonathan) Demildt of Marion, Dan Lund of Dike, Shawn (Leah) Lesh of Bettendorf, Ryan (Mediha) Lund of Waterloo, Beth Lesh of Marion, Sonya (Matthew) Harwood-Johnson of Tuscaloosa, AL, Ben Harwood of Ames, Kaylie Bowers of Brandon, Ryan Bowers of Brandon, Brooke Bowers of Colorado Springs, Co, and Jeffery Bowers of Dysart; twenty-one great grandchildren; his brothers Fred Lund of Loveland, CO, Larry (Beth) Lund of Cedar Rapids, and his sisters Gladys Hummel of Vinton, Shirley Jurgens of Keystone, Kathy Smith of Vinton, and Barb (Ross) Behel of Shellsburg.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, his brothers Emmert and Russell Lund, and a sister Wilma Gutzeit.
Charles was a member of Heartland Community Church and the Mt. Auburn American Legion.