Stanton Thurness WEST LIBERTY, Iowa #45;- Stanton E. Thurness, 74, West Liberty, died Monday, Aug. 4, 2003, at the Wilton Retirement Community, Wilton, after an extended illness. Services are 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 7, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, West Liberty. The Rev. Terry Mahnke will officiate. Burial will be at Oak Ridge Cemetery, West Liberty. Visitation is 5-7 p.m. today at the church. A memorial fund has been established. Barker Funeral Home, West Liberty, is in charge of the arrangements. Mr. Thurness was born Feb. 8, 1929, in Grand Prairie Township, Ill., the son of Yates and Jewell Raines Thurness. He married Joan Stratton Jan. 11, 1953, in Atalissa. He graduated from West Branch High School in 1946. He served in the U.S. Army. He farmed in the West Liberty area until 1979 when he began working for the West Liberty Public Works Department from which he retired in 1991. He was a member of Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, the Mansell Phillips American Legion Post No. 509 and Farm Bureau. Survivors include his wife; a daughter, Karen Thurness of West Liberty; two sons, Steven Thurness and wife Brenda of West Liberty and Andy Thurness of Iowa City; a sister, Phyllis Smith of Coralville; four grandchildren, Luke, Codi, Jordan, and Breana; and an uncle, Harold Thurness. He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Julie; and a brother, Myron.