Loren Leland Dittmer

Loren Dittmer, age 94, of Holstein, passed away on Sunday, July 17, 2022 at the Good Samaritan Society of Holstein.  A funeral service will be held on Friday, July 22, 2022 at 10:30 AM at the St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church of Holstein with the Pastor Bob Lewis officiating.  Burial will be at the Memory Gardens Cemetery of Cherokee.  A visitation will be held on Thursday, July 21, 2022 from 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM at the Nicklas D. Jensen Funeral Home of Holstein.  The Nicklas D. Jensen Funeral Home of Holstein is in charge of the arrangements.

Loren was born on a farm in rural Holstein on October 12, 1927 to Hans and Edna (Groepper) Dittmer.  He was baptized Dec. 30, 1928 and confirmed April 6, 1941 at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Holstein where he was a lifelong member and served on the church council. He attended country school and graduated from Holstein High School in l945. After graduating he began farming with his father.

On November 27, 1955 he married Audrey Fowler at the First Presbyterian Church in Battle Creek. They made their home on the farm where he was born.  They had two children, Kent and Nancy.

He was one of the first ones in the area to practice no till farming, and his son continues to do so now. He received several awards for his soil and water conservation work.  He and Kent were named Master Pork Producers of Iowa in 1986. In 2002 they were honored to receive a Century Farm recognition at the Iowa State Fair.

Loren served on the county FHA committee and extension council. He retired from farming in 1991 and they moved to an acreage a mile from their farm home. They bought an RV and spent the next 24 winters in warmer climates where they made many lifelong friends.  They also traveled in their RV during the summers and visited nearly every state and went to Alaska on a cruise. In 2018 they moved into Holstein.

Survivors are wife Audrey of 66 years; son, Kent (Cindy) of Holstein; daughter, Nancy of Clive, IA; two step-grandsons, Jeremy (Tera) Parks and Justin (Laura) Parks and step great-grandchildren, Cody (Rachel) Ehlers, Garrett (Maddie) Ehlers, Gavin, Isabelle, Andrew, Joshua and Samuel Parks; sister Carol Wolf of Waynesboro, VA and brother and sister in-law, Duane and Theresa Fowler of Marquette, MI and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Hans and Edna Dittmer; his in-laws, Lynn and Annie Fowler; brother and sister-in-law Harold and Helen Dittmer and brother-in-law, John Wolf.

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