Arnold 'Arnie' Lourens

Arnold ‘Arnie’ Lourens, 83, of Lorimor died Monday, March 12, 2012 at the Winterset Care Center North. A visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, March 15 at Ochiltree Funeral Service & Aftercare in Winterset, where a memorial service will immediately follow the visitation beginning at 7 p.m. Memorials may be directed to the First Baptist Church in Lorimor. On-line condolences may be made to the family at www.ochiltree.com. Arnold Chester Lourens was born in Jasper County, Iowa on January 13, 1929 to Gerritt and Gertrude (Bruxvoort) Lourens. He married Marjorie Bensink in 1949 and later married Marilyn Kinney in 1958. His marriage to Carol Inks took place on October 28, 2005 in Alden, Iowa. During his working career Arnie was a farmer, first managing a dairy herd and later raising hogs, cattle along with managing his grain crops of corn and beans. He first farmed and lived in Jasper County and moved to a farm in Dallas County near Van Meter. He later moved to a farm in Clarke County and eventually moved to Union County near Lorimor. He also lived in Arkansas for a short time before retiring and in retirement he enjoyed wintering in Weslaco, Texas. Arnie was a member of the First Baptist Church of Lorimor and was proud to tell the story of how he received the Lord as his Savior during a Billy Graham Crusade in Kansas City. He was a pilot and proudly owned two Tripacer aircrafts which he always enjoyed flying and he also participated in many regional fly-ins. During his lifetime he had supported many civic organizations and always enjoyed the outdoors whether, fishing, boating or just relaxing on or near the water. Arnie is survived by his wife, Carol Lourens of Lorimor, his children, Darrel (Johnnie) Lourens of Creston; Sheryl (Bob) Kain of Prairie City; Lorie (Tom) Stajcar of Urbandale; Scott (Patty) Lourens of Des Moines; Audrey Cook of Ravenna, MI; Julie (David) Johns of Grand Rapids, MI; Allen Lourens of Creston; Greg Evans of Davenport; Eric (Katrina) Evans of Lorimor and Darsi (Joel) Hartman of Smithville, MO. Arnie is also survived by his brother, Gerry (Marcy) Lourens of Mitchellville; 26 grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Harriett Jean Nieboer.