Art Rix

Funeral Service SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2010, 2:00 PM FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, MANNING, IOWA REVEREND MARSHALL BROWN, OFFICIATING Music "HERE I AM, LORD" "NOW PRAISE THE LORD" ~ CONGREGATION "I'LL WALK WITH GOD" ~ CHOIR "HOW GREAT THOU ART" ~ DEETTE GRABILL, VOCALIST "STEAL AWAY" "I BELIEVE" "THE LORD'S PRAYER" "I SAW THE LIGHT" ~ MANNING LIEDERKRANTZ Casket Bearers DUANE MONSON JOHN DETHLEFSEN TOM ULRICKSON HARVEY DALES ROBERT GAFFNEY DAVID KUSEL Honorary Casketbearers SUSAN ULRICKSON RITA ZERWAS WM. F. OHDE MAX DETHLEFSEN CLIFFORD TANK Interment MANNING CEMETERY, MANNING, IOWA Arthur Julius Rix was born December 11, 1908 in Manning, Iowa, the fourth son of Peter N. and Wilhelmina (Baak) Rix. He passed away at the Manning Regional Healthcare Center January 3, 2010 at the age of 101 years and 22 days. Art had been a resident of the Manning Plaza since May 2003. Art attended Manning schools and graduated in 1926. He attended the University of Iowa for two years and then joined his father and brother Ted in publishing the Manning Monitor. In 1948 he purchased an interest in the Lewis Reinhold drug store. In 1972 he sold his interest to his partner Orval Fink. Art then leased the wallpaper and paint department which he operated in the remodeled basement of the drug store. He retired in 1978 after fifty years as a businessman on Main Street. On October 14, 1932 Art was united in marriage with Ila Claussen. The couple had been classmates since childhood and they were married for seventy-three years. Art was very active in the Manning community. He was the last surviving charter member of the Manning Manilla Golf Course, having been president for one term. He was also involved with the development of the Senior Citizen Center, the expansion of the hospital and building the Plaza. He also was a member of the Terrace Apartments housing board and a past president of the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club. Art was a fifty-year member of the Order of the Eastern Star and Masonic Lodge as well as a former member of ZaGaZig Shrine in Des Moines. As a member of First Presbyterian Church, he was an Elder and sang in the choir for seventy years. Of special interest to Art was his participation in Der Manning Liederkranz, a German Men's singing group. In 1979 he helped re-establish a new Liederkranz to honor the original 1891 chorus. This new group performed during the Manning Centennial in 1981 and throughout the following twenty-five years. Art served as president until the group disbanded in 2007. Art's father Peter Rix was a member of the original Liederkranz and its president in 1896 Art's hobbies were photography, reading, music, the Chicago Cubs and the Iowa Hawkeyes. During high school he played clarinet in a touring dance band and while at the U of I, was a member of the marching and concert bands. As a life-long resident of Manning, Art experienced the town's 50th, 100th, and 125th celebrations and served as editor of the Centennial history book and was the Grand Marshall for the Quasquicentennial parade in 2008. At the time of his death, Art was a member of the Manning Main Street Redevelopment committee and on the Plaza resident council. Art is preceded in death by his parents; three brothers Alfred, Harry and Ted Rix; and his wife Ila. He is survived by his daughters Diane Weitz (Edwin) of Omaha, NE and Karen Snyder (Errol) of Wheat Ridge, CO; four grandchildren: Libby Snipes (Ricky) of Council Bluffs; E. Carter Weitz, Jr. (Tami) of Lincoln, NE; Kristin Nelson of Arvada, CO and Marc Nelson Rix (Jennifer) of San Diego, CA; 17 great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Marmee Claussen of Iowa City; cousin Adele Stoffers of Venice, FL; nieces, nephews and many friends.