William (Bill) F. Ohde

William Franklin, son of William and Frances (Brunnier) Ohde, was born March 21, 1916, at Manning, Iowa. The family first lived near downtown and then moved to the corner of East and Second Street where his father hoped to add to their home for a funeral home. Instead he purchased some property on First Street and commenced the planning and building of the present Ohde Funeral Home. At the age of fourteen Bill was very involved in watching and working with the carpenters, electricians, plumbers and masons as the new structure took form. The lessons he learned stayed with him all his life. During this time he helped his Dad in the furniture, appliance and floor covering and funeral business out of their store on Main Street. After graduating from Manning High School in 1934, Bill attended the University of Iowa for two years until he was old enough to attend mortuary school. He graduated with Distinguished Honors from the Hohenschuh-Carpenter College of Embalming in St. Louis, Missouri in 1938. Later that year he received his Iowa embalmer's license and returned to Manning and joined his father in business. On February 26, 1939, Bill and Bernice Dethlefs were united in marriage at the Zion Lutheran Church. Four children were born to this union. They lived in Manning their entire lives. As a couple, Bill and Bernie enjoyed playing bridge, traveling and playing golf. In 1951 the furniture store was sold so that the family could concentrate on the Ohde Funeral Home business and a partnership between Bill and his dad was formed. After the death of Bill's father in 1969, the business expanded to include Manilla, Coon Rapids and Bayard when his son William G. and daughter Ruth joined him in the funeral business. Bill was avidly interested when the firm expanded to Kimballton and Carroll in later years. The town of Manning and its growth, prosperity and people were very dear to his heart. He was involved in many organizations including the Manning Hospital Board where he served as treasurer for many years and helped in the planning of the Manning Plaza and other additions to the hospital; the Chamber of Commerce where he chaired the annual Kinderfest committee for nearly 30 years; the Manning Community Foundation when they purchased the old high school and turned it into the Manning Rec Center; and the Zion Lutheran Church where he chaired the building committee that planned the present-day church in south Manning. Bill served on the City Council and was elected Mayor, as well as the Fire Department where he served as Chief for many years. He also was a member of the Manning School Board during reorganization in the 1950s. His interest in trains, model trains and photography began early in life. He wore out the engines of his first model trains and rebuilt them himself. He switched to HO (smaller gauge) and built cars, tracks and scale model buildings the rest of his life. He was proud of his scale model Milwaukee Road layout. Bill had an extensive collection of railroad related books, periodicals and memorabilia. He was involved in numerous railroad organizations, including serving as the President of the Milwaukee Railfan Association. Bill enjoyed reading and learning about a wide variety of subjects. After Bill retired in 1981 he continued to come to the funeral home most every day with the mail and to check up on all the employees, including his granddaughter Alison who joined the family business in 2003. He never ceased to care about the advances in funeral service. Bill was devoted to his wife Bernice and to his family, giving them unconditional support. After a couple of train trips in the first half of 2010, he started to experience health problems. Bill entered the Manning Regional Healthcare Center on October 12, 2010 and died there on Sunday, October 24, 2010 at the age of 94 years, 7 months and 3 days. Preceding him in death are his parents; wife Bernice Ohde in October 2009 and brother- and sister-in-law Kenneth and Virginia Dethlefs. Bill is survived by his four children: Ruth Ohde of Manning; Linda and husband George Farley of Lake Bluff, IL; Bill Ohde and Mike Thompson of Palm Springs, CA and John Ohde and wife Jackie and her children Sam, Ben and Sydney of Manning; four grandchildren and five great grandchildren: Ron Beaver and his son James (JP) of Woodinville, WA; Alison and husband Mark River and daughter Abigail of Manning; Julia Bachman and daughter Olivia of Manning and John Bachman and wife Wendy and sons Charlie and Ben of Denver, CO; two nieces JoAnn and husband Jim Karsten and Georgia and husband Rick Lohrmann, both of Manning; other relatives and many railroad friends all over the United States. Music "TILL THEN" THE MILLS BROTHERS "ON THE OLD MILWAUKEE ROAD" HOMETOWNERS "ALWAYS" GUY LOMBARDO & HIS ROYAL CANADIANS "I'LL BE SEEING YOU" LIBERACE Casket Bearers RON BEAVER JULIE BACHMAN JOHN BACHMAN ALISON OHDE RIVER MIKE THOMPSON SAM WEGNER Interment MANNING CEMETERY MANNING, IOWA