Oral Van Sickle, 79, of Le Mars, Iowa passed away on Friday, February 14, 2014 at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Funeral services will take place at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, February 21, 2014 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Le Mars. Rev. Jean Ziettlow and Pastor Peter Rosenkvist will officiate. Burial will follow at Memorial Cemetery in Le Mars with military honors provided by Wasmer Post #241 of the American Legion. Visitation will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, February 20, 2014 at the Mauer – Johnson Funeral Home of Le Mars. The family will be present from 5-7 p.m. with a prayer service scheduled at 7:00 p.m. There will also be one hour of visitation at the church prior to the funeral on Friday.

Oral Loraine Van Sickle was born on June 24, 1934 in Marathon, Iowa to Clifford and Irene (Buckstead) Van Sickle. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith at Latimer, Iowa. Oral graduated from Coon Rapids High School in 1953.

Oral and Betty Lubben were united in marriage on June 27, 1965 at Christ Lutheran Church (Grant Township), rural Le Mars, Iowa. They were blessed with three children, Kevin, Kelli and Krystal. The family became members of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Le Mars in 1976.

He joined Co. A as a prior serviceman, having served in the United States Army Signal Corps from 1957-1959. His service included 19 months in Germany. While in Germany, Oral attained the rank of SP-4. He earned his honorable discharge on June 30, 1963. Oral enlisted in the Iowa Army National Guard on January 27, 1974 where he was assigned to the cook section. He later became the Food Service Sergeant as an E-7. He earned his honorable discharge from the Iowa Army National Guard on January 26, 1989.

Oral began his career with Centel Telephone in 1953 as a cable splicer at Sac City, Iowa. He held several positions in Le Mars from 1959 to 1972. He was a group supervisor customer service-COE/special services for Central Telephone retiring after 36 years with the company in 1989. Numerous weeks of training were spent in Minnesota, New York, Illinois, Tennessee, North Carolina and California. Also, over the years, Oral held many part-time positions which included farming, Farm Service, Wells’ Dairy and Fuel N More.

He was a member of Wasmer Post #241 of the American Legion, Eagles’ Club, a former member of the B.P.O. Elks, 40 & 8 and the Le Mars Sportsman’s Club.

Oral enjoyed his many fishing trips to Minnesota, South Dakota and Canada with many friends and family. He also enjoyed following NASCAR. In younger years he liked to bowl and hunt. His greatest joy was the time spent with his grandchildren.

He will be lovingly remembered by his wife of 48 years, Betty of Le Mars, IA; a son, Kevin (Lia) Van Sickle of Le Mars, IA; two daughters, Kelli (Ken) Tucker of Harrisburg, SD and Krystal (Aaron) Spangler of Aurora, CO; grandchildren, Brady Detloff, Christian and Nicholas Tucker and Jaxson Spangler; two step-grandchildren, Brooke (Brian) Guerrero and Blake Wilson; a step-great-grandson, Logan Guerrero; a sister, Leola Goetzinger of Cedar Falls, IA; and a sister-in-law Charlene Van Sickle of Washington.

He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Cliff Jr. and Charles; sister-in-law, Jean Van Sickle; and brother-in-law, Jerome Goetzinger.

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