Earl R. Fleet

Earl Ramsay Van Fleet, age 96, of Waterloo, died at Ravenwood Specialty Care on January 11, 2018.  He was born on May 9, 1921 in New Hartford; the son of Guy W. and Mary Ramsay Van Fleet. He graduated from Waterloo East High School in 1939.  Earl married Roberta A. Mussett on June 29, 1946 in Waterloo; she preceded him in death on June 27, 1998. Earl served in the U.S. Army during WWII, he received 4 Bronze stars- Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, and the Central European Campaign; he also received the American Theatre Campaign ribbon, Good Conduct Award, European-African-Middle East Campaign ribbon, and 3 overseas bars. He received an honorable discharge on November 8, 1945. He had worked at Rath Packing Co. prior to WWII, and then worked for Schoitz Engineering starting as an apprentice tool and die designer and later as president, he retired in 1992 after 46.5 years. Earl was a member of the Unitarian-Universalist Church; and of Waterloo Masonic Lodge No. 105 AF & AM. He also served on the Schoitz Board of Directors until 2016. Earl had an interest in sports, particularly ice skating and baseball. He enjoyed fishing, camping, hunting, picnick...[more]

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ng, and gardening. He cherished time spent with his family. He especially enjoyed splitting and harvesting firewood, and trips to the family cabin on Reed's Lake in Minnesota.   Survivors include two sons, Bob (Donna) Van Fleet of Ft. Myers, FL, and Doug (Carol) Van Fleet of Hudson; a daughter, Teri Trasamar of Waterloo; four grandchildren: Zachary Van Fleet of Addison, TX, Brian (Erin) Van Fleet of Birmingham, AL, Andrew (Holly) Van Fleet of Waterloo, and Samantha Van Fleet of Renwick, IA; and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Roberta; a daughter, Jeri Lee Coburn; and a sister, Ruth Zareh.   To read the full obituary, please click here: http://www.lockefuneralhome.com/obituaries/earl-r.-van-fleet