Herbert I. Amundson

Wednesday, January 10, 2018 2:48 pm

Herbert I. Amundson, 89, of Mason City, died Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit, in Mason City. A funeral service is at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 15, at Big Canoe Lutheran Church in rural Highlandville. Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to Hospice of North Iowa, Mason City. Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at fjelstul.com.

Herbert Ingval Amundson, the oldest child of Henry and Ida (Strinmoen) Amundson, was born July 15, 1928, in Spring Grove, Minn. He attended country school at Highland District School. He joined the Air Force Dec. 28, 1950, received his GED and proudly served as SSGT at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas until his honorary discharge Dec. 8, 1954. He often recalled his time in the Air Force and enjoyed phone calls, to this day, from fellow service men with whom he served.

He was united in marriage to Marian E. Nelson Dec. 21, 1961, at Zion Lutheran Church in Clear Lake, They became parents of two daughters, Karen (passed as infant) and Sharon, along with a son, Darrin. Herb never forgot the pain of losing Karen; and I believe that is part of what made his true love and devotion to his kids and grandkids so much stronger.

Herb spent his working days as a certified welder with Gibbs Cook Caterpillar, also known as Ziegler. He was a hard worker and would often skip meals in order to complete a job. He also took much pride in the many years he spent teaching Sunday school classes at Trinity Lutheran Church in Mason City. After retirement, Herbert and Marian spent as much time as possible on the farm back in Highlandville. Getting back to their “country roots” was their reward for all the years of hard work along with raising their family.

Herb was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed fishing and hunting. Spending time with family and friends, deer hunting, was one of his greatest joys. He also made time for many family vacations to Ear Falls, Ontario, Canada. He took a lot of pride in his “trophy” buck, and would gladly share the tales of all the hunting adventures throughout the years. He was a man of many stories and tall tales and was a bit of a prankster at heart. He always commented that he could remember so much, even back to the age of two. He was a man of his word, a hard worker, hard-headed and not a bit ashamed to admit his stubborn “Norski” personality. You could always count on him for a good laugh, a good story and a few wise words.

He took a lot of pride in his growing family and always reminded us that there was nothing more important than the health and welfare of the grandkids and family members.

Herbert will be deeply missed by his daughter, Sharon Amundson and husband John Flores, and son Darrin (Kelly) Amundson; grandchildren: Ryan (Chelsea) Amundson, Katie (Jack) Klemesrud, Alyssa Fullerton (Jeff Magner, special person), Taylor Fullerton (Jordan Martzahl, fiance), Olivia (Dylan) Solomon, Annika (Billy O’Neill, special person), Benjamin Amundson and Ella Amundson; great-grandchildren: Carter, Kenna, Lydia and Lillian Klemesrud; Ryker, Cayson and Sawyer Amundson; Gunner Wentworth, Ayden Decker, Emma Martzahl and Hadley Solomon.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Marian (Nelson) Amundson; daughter, Karen Elaine; parents, Henry and Ida (Strinmoen) Amundson; along with brothers Curtis, Benny and Raymond.