Robert Lowell Olthoff

Robert Olthoff, 83, a longtime Stanhope area farmer, joined his heavenly Father on Saturday, December 15, 2012. A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday at Our Saviors Lutheran Church, with Rev. Katharine Yarnell officiating. Burial will be in the Lawn Hill Cemetery, southeast of Stanhope. Visitation will be at the Foster Funeral and Cremation Center from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday and prior to the service at the church on Wednesday. Robert Lowell Olthoff, son of Oltman and Hannah Cordes Olthoff, was born April 14, 1929 on his parent's farm near Kamrar. He graduated from Kamrar high school and soon after began farming with his father. On February 5, 1950, he married Mary Dolores Berglund at the Stratford Lutheran Church. The couple moved to a farm south of Stanhope in 1955 where they also started raising turkeys. He became very involved in the development of the turkey industry in central Iowa. He also enjoyed involvement in raising beef and helping his children and grandchildren take steers to the Hamilton County Fair. He enjoyed traveling to cattle shows and the Iowa State Fair. Bob especially loved watching his children and grandchildren...[more]

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rticipate in sports and music activities. He retired in 1998. He had resided at Southfield Wellness Community since July of 2012. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Mary; sons and daughters-in-law, David and Vicki Olthoff of Stanhope; Mark (Melissa Kincheloe) Olthoff of Overland Park, KS; Brent and Luanna Olthoff of Brandon,SD; daughter and son-in-law, Denise and Greg Murray of Urbandale; 12 grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; sisters, Dorothy (Kenneth) Appelgate of Story City; Janice (Gary) Nielsen of Omaha, NE; Joann (Richard) Stone of Buffalo Grove, IL; sisters-in-law, Angeline Appelgate of Radcliffe; Joyce Berglund of Ames; Martha Humes of Tucson, AZ; brother-in-law, Harold (Carolyn) Berglund of Stratford; several nieces and nephews and many friends. Bob is preceded in death by his parents; granddaughter, Ashley Olthoff; sister, Norma Fonken and brother, Raymond Olthoff and step-mother, Hilka Hemmen Olthoff. He was a member of Our Saviors Lutheran Church. Bob believed in serving his church and he served as church president and various other positions. He give his time as South Hamilton Community School Board president, served on the Central Iowa CO-OP board, was a former member of the Stanhope Lions Club and the loved being a part of his community. Write a personal tribute or light a virtual candle for the Olthoff family at www.fosterfuneralandcremation.com