Fred Caventer, 72 of Lidderdale, died Wednesday, June 10, 2015 at Shady Oaks Care Center in Lake City.
A funeral mass will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, June 20, 2015 at Holy Family Catholic Church in Lidderdale. The Celebrant will be Fr. Dale Reiff. Con-Celebrant and homilist will be Fr. Lynn Bruch. Mass servers will be Adam and Ryan Scharfenkamp. Music will be by Deanna Daniel, Holy Family Choir, with Kelsey Knorr as soloist. Lectors for the funeral mass will be: Mindy Skillen and Deb Brincks. Gift Bearers will be: Patrick Serafyn, Michael Serafyn, Kara Close, Kally Close, Nate Epperson, Christopher Snyder, Steven Snyder, Jerod Snyder, and Jada Snyder. Eucharistic Ministers will be Bill Stork and Ruth Lux. Honorary Casket Bearers will be: Gary Adams, Paul Daniel, Chris Daniel, Jim Von Ahn, Baron Brinkman, Stan Gordon, Larry Sporrer and Duane Sporrer. Burial will be at a later date.
Fred’s family will greet friends one hour prior to mass at Holy Family Church in Lidderdale.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for Fred’s family at www.sharpfuneral.com.
Fred was born on April 28, 1943 at Gary, Indiana, the son of Edward and Elinor (Polite) Caventer. He spent his younger years in Gary, Indiana, graduated from high school in 1961 and later attended Indiana University.
In 1965, Fred began his 33 year career with J C Penney. He started in the Village Store and later moved to the downtown store in Gary, Indiana in 1968. From there he became personal manager of the Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois and two year later was promoted to assistant manager in Roseland, Illinois. In 1976, Fred became the GMM of Penney’s in Council Bluffs where he spent a couple years and then moved to the South Roads Store in Bellevue, Nebraska.
On December 15, 1979 he married Sherry Sporrer in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Following their marriage Fred managed stores in Alliance, Nebraska and Sidney, Nebraska, before Fred’s last assignment in Red Wing, Minnesota where he was the store manager until his retirement in 1998.
Following his retirement, Fred and Sherry operated an antique mall in Red Wing before settling in Lidderdale, Iowa.
After retiring, Fred’s passion was family, camping, and fishing. He and his family spent many weekends and summer vacations at the Box Butte Reservoir in Hemingford, Nebraska. Fred also worked part time on the grounds crew at the Carroll Country Club; a job he thoroughly enjoyed.
Fred spent the past six months at Shady Oaks Care Center in Lake City. The staff and residents became very special to him; especially his roommate Stan Gordon and tablemate, Mary Toyne. Everyone at the nursing home enjoyed daily visits from Fred’s special buddy, his dog Degan. When he was able Fred always enjoyed taking Degan for rides on his golf cart and going for drives in the golf cart around Lidderdale.
His greatest joy was spending time with his family, attending his grandchildren’s sporting events, and cheering for the Chicago Bears.
Fred is survived by his wife Sherry Caventer of Lidderdale; his daughters: Deb (Rick) Close of St. Petersberg, FL, and Pam Serafyn of Largo, FL; his mother, Elinor Caventer of Tucson, AZ; his step-children: Scott Snyder of Carroll, Dawn (Scott) Epperson of Missouri Valley, and Todd (Shirley) Snyder of Carroll; his step-daughter-in-law, Shelly Snyder of Phoenix, AZ; his grandchildren: Michael (Niki) Serafyn, Patrick Serafyn, Kara Close, and Kally Close; his step-grandchildren: Nate (Sarah) Epperson, Christopher Snyder, Steven Snyder, Jerod Snyder, and Jada Snyder; his great-grandchildren: Gavin Serafyn, Madison Epperson, and Baby Boy Epperson, due in July; his sister, Janet Mertz of Tucson; his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law: Tom (Joan) Sporrer of Council Bluffs, Karen (Ed) Heim of Carroll and Robyn (Mike) Brinker of Carroll; his close friends, Paul and Chris Daniel of Lidderdale; as well as his friends and Shady Oak Care Center, many nieces, nephews, and other extended relatives.
Fred was preceded in death by his father, Edward; and his parents-in-law, Don and Penny Sporrer.
