MILO REINDERS

CURLEW - Milo "Bomber" Reinders, 80, died Wednesday, July 1, 2009, at Lakeside Lutheran Home in Emmetsburg.

Services will be 1:30 p.m. Friday, July 3, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mallard. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 2, at the church. Burial will be in Rush Lake Cemetery. Harris Funeral Home of Mallard is in charge of arrangements.

Milo was born Nov. 10, 1928, in Mallard, Iowa, son of Bill and Marcia (Hahn) Reinders. He was baptized in the Mallard Methodist Church. Later, Milo joined the Lutheran faith and was confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mallard in May 1956.

At age 16, he enlisted in the Navy and proudly served his country as a Sea-Bee. After returning home in 1948, he met and married Alice Gade. To this union four children were born - Sandy, Dan, Dave and Mark. He worked for Critten & Hinrichs Produce for seven years. In 1957, Milo and Alice were hired by the Mallard Creamery where he worked until 1962 when they purchased their present farm three-and-one-half miles southwest of Mallard. He loved being a farmer and retired in 1990 when sons, Dan and Dave, took it over.

He continued to keep busy driving Winnebago motor homes and vehicles for a car dealer in Minnesota. In 1980, he was honored as a Century Farm Owner. He was a 61-year member of the Mallard American Legion. He was a member of the Mallard Country Club, Lutheran Layman's League, Fellowship Club and volunteered as a Walter League youth counselor for several years. Milo served as Rush Lake Township Trustee for 26 years.

Milo dearly loved children, especially his 12 grandchildren. He had a terrific sense of humor and enjoyed teasing and joking with them. He was very interested in the history of Mallard and enjoyed telling stories and showing pictures of Mallard in the "good old days" to his grandchildren. He loved to travel, especially in his later years, spending winters in McAllen, Texas. He was an avid hunter and fisherman and loved going on fishing trips to Canada with his family and friends.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 60 years, Alice; one daughter and son-in-law, Sandra and Bill Beckendorf of Fairmont, Minn.; and three sons, Daniel Reinders and his wife, Jeannie, of Havelock, Iowa, David Reinders and his wife, Kristi, of Dumas, Texas, and Mark Reinders and his wife, Judy, of Sergeant Bluff, Iowa; 12 grandchildren, Matthew, Nathaniel and Theodore Beckendorf, Jason, Jennifer and Jeff Reinders, Jami, Joni and Billy Reinders, and Cara, Josh and Erin Reinders; eight great-grandchildren; one brother, Raymond Reinders, and his wife, Virginia, of Omaha, Neb.; one sister, Mary Olt, and her husband, Don, of Dayton, Ohio; three brothers-in-law; two sisters-in-law; several nieces and nephews, as well as many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters-in-law; and two brothers-in-law.

We are blessed by all his good memories, and he will be sadly missed and lovingly remembered.

Memorials may be directed to the family for their further discretion.