Charles W. Oswald, 86 of Carroll, died Sunday, February 8, 2015 at the Carroll Health Center.
Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday, February 12, 2015 at St. Lawrence Catholic Church in Carroll. The Celebrant will be Fr. Brian Danner. Music will be by Kate Cuddy and the St. Lawrence Choir with Jake Gute as cantor. Lectors will be Pat Vogl and Danny Oswald. Gift Bearers will be Vickie and Randy Wolterman. Eucharistic Ministers will be: Leon and Florence Oswald and Marge Tigges. Casket Bearers will be: Danny Oswald, Russell Tigges, Bill Heim, Tim Vogl, Tony Vogl, and Ed Vogl. The Carroll and Garrigan 4th Degree Knights of Columbus will form an honor guard for the funeral mass. Following the mass he will be buried at the Breda Cemetery in the family plot beside his namesake grandfather, across from his Father, Mother and Godfather. Military honors will be conducted by the Carroll American Legion and the Mapleton American Legion A luncheon will then be served at the Breda Legion Hall.
Friends may call at the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll after 5 p.m. on Wednesday where there will be a 4th Degree Knights of Columbus Rosary at 6:30 p.m. followed by a Christian Wake Service at 7 p.m.
The casket will be moved to St. Lawrence Church at 10 a.m. on Thursday where visitation will resume until time of the funeral mass.
In lieu of flowers, and remembering family struggles during the depression, contributions to the Food Bank would be welcomed.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll and online condolences may be left for Charlie’s family at www.sharpfuneral.com.
Charles was born to Peter and Teresa (Goecke) Oswald, the fifth of their twelve children, on March 30, 1928 near Willey, Iowa. He attended school at Mount Carmel and Arcadia, Iowa. At 14 he began working full time on farms, a dairy, later learning the mechanics trade. On February 21, 1949, he married Betty Dean at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Wall Lake, where they resided until he was drafted into the Army in January 1952. He was assigned to the Aberdeen Proving Ground Leadership Training Center as cadre and instructor until his discharge in 1954. They remained in Maryland where he worked as a civilian in the Ballistic Research Laboratory until they returned to Iowa in 1956. He, with his brother Paul, operated the DX Station in Carroll and then he operated heavy construction equipment in the Wall Lake and Sac City areas. In the early sixties he married Betty Harder Plotz. Together they had five children Rick, Dick, Jeff, Debra and Joe. Through this marriage Charles also became a step-father to Linda, Ed, Becky and Randy Plotz. In 1964 they moved their family to northern California where he found work operating heavy construction equipment and commercial fishing. Although busy supporting his large family and raising children, Charles managed to steal time at night and on weekends to construct a 54-foot steel trawler in their backyard. After years of work, the boat was appropriately christened the “Home Brew”. He fished the north Pacific going as far as 200 miles offshore where he caught albacore, cod and shrimp, etc. Upon retirement he sold the boat. It still plies the waters off the Oregon coast. After successfully raising their five children, Charles and Betty ended their marriage in 1996.
During this period he found inspiration and fulfilment in his work with the Knights of Columbus. He travelled extensively along California’s north coast conducting fund raisers and helping to establish new Councils. He was honored to hold offices that enabled him to represent the Knights of State of California at the National Convention held at the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. His love for the Knights of Columbus never wavered.
In 1997 he remarried his first wife and acquired another stepchild, Charity Spaulding. They returned to Iowa, residing first in Carroll and later on their acreage east of Mapleton. After shoulder surgery in 2011, his health began to fail and in May of that year he entered the Carroll Health Center where he has since resided.
Of his life’s accomplishments, dearest to his heart were his children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. During his last year his happiest moments have been spent being able to see them and talk to them on his iPhone and iPad.
Left to celebrate his life is his wife Betty Oswald of Carroll: his children: Rick and wife Connie Oswald of Fort Smith, Arkansas; Dick and wife Debbie Oswald of Lakeport, California; Jeff and wife Lisa Oswald of Elk Grove, California; Debra and husband Mark Cole of Santa Maria, California; and Joe and wife Karel Oswald of Rohnert Park, California; twelve grandchildren and sixteen great-grandchildren. Stepchildren: Eddie Plotz of Winchester, Virginia; Randy Plotz of Port Meade, South Dakota; Linda and husband Jim Prince of Omaha; Becky and husband Jim Stouten of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; and Charity with husband John Spaulding of Delray Beach, Florida, and their families; his sisters: Lola Heim of Sioux Falls; Gladys Nieland of Breda, and Marge (Robert) Tigges of Carroll; his brothers: Paul (Darlene) Oswald of Carroll; Leon (Florence) Oswald of Carroll; Bill Oswald of Kyle, Texas; and Arthur (Virginia) Oswald of North Platte, Nebraska, along with their families.
He was predeceased by his parents, sisters: Rita and husband Ray Reicks; Mazie and husband Bert Soyer; Dorothy and husband Ed Vogl and a brother, Louis: brothers-in-law Cletus Heim and Norman Nieland; Betty Harder Plotz Oswald: a grandson Justin Brooks; and a special aunt, Frances Oswald;
