Donald Sturm, age 66 of Carroll died Thursday, December 6, 2012, at his residence near Carroll surrounded by his family following a battle with cancer.
Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 A.M. Monday at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Mt. Carmel. The Celebrant will be Father Gary Snyder. Lector will be Don’s brother, Dick Sturm. Mass Servers will be his grandchildren, Madison and Meghan Sturm. Gift Bearers will be grandchildren, Cody Marquardt, Katie Marquardt, Toby Sturm, Kayla Sturm, Jacie Sturm, Gavin Sturm, and Brody Sturm. Communion Ministers will be Lynn and Dave Wittrock. Music will be by organist Denise Nieland and the Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Choir and by soloists Mike and Sue Moore and Mark Caraher. Casket Bearers will be Marvin Glass, Tom Irlbeck, Mike Wiederin, Norman Schettler, Phil Collison, and Matt Lemker. Burial will be at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Mt. Carmel with military honors conducted by the Breda American Legion.
Friends may call at the Sharp Funeral Home in Carroll after 4 P.M. on Sunday. There will be a Christian wake service at 7 P.M. Sunday by Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish. Online condolences may be left for Don’s family at www.sharpfuneral.com.
Don was born on October 1, 1946, at Carroll, Iowa, the son of Frank X. Sturm, Jr. and Lucy “Liz” Loew. He spent his lifetime in the Carroll community and graduated from Kuemper High School with the class of 1964. He entered the U.S. Army in February 1966 and served during the Vietnam War being honorably discharged in February 1968. Don and Mary Sporleder were married on February 15, 1969, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Lidderdale. The family lived north of Carroll where Don farmed and worked with his son Matt building equipment for the American Professional Quilting Systems of Carroll. He was a member of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish. Don enjoyed his family, especially his grandchildren, and enjoyed restoring tractors and cars, driving his 1968 Dodge Charger, watching westerns on television, and was so proud of the fact that their family was named Farm Family of the Year by the Farmers Home Administration in the 1970’s.
Don is survived by his wife, Mary Sturm of Carroll; his children, Julie Sturm of Carroll, Mike (Jodie) Sturm of Carroll, Matt Sturm of Carroll, and Joe (Carri) Sturm of Carroll; 9 grandchildren; his mother, Lucy “Liz” Sturm of Carroll; two sisters, Bernie (Neil) Kenkel of Twin Lakes and Barb (Bob) Beyerink of Vail; a brother, Dick (Mavis) Sturm of Denver, Colo.; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Linda Francis and her friend Kenny of Faribault, Minn., Roger and Sherry Sporleder of Unionville, Missouri, Steve and Marilyn Sporleder of Lidderdale, June and John Kennebeck of Glidden, Phil Sporleder of Carroll, and Janel and Eric Niceswanger of Carroll; and by many nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father, Frank X. Sturm, Jr.