RAISER, Junior William "Bill"
RAISER, LEUSCH, DRAKE, JOHNSON, VAN ERT
Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 1/3/2018 at 03:08:32
Junior William "Bill" Raiser
June 17, 1920 ~ December 14, 2017Leon Journal-Reporter
Leon, Decatur County, Iowa
Thursday, December 21, 2017Junior William Raiser, age 97, of Lamoni, Iowa, the son of William Lewis and Clara (Leusch) Raiser, was born June 17, 1920, in Glenside, Pennsylvania. He died at his daughter’s home outside of Leon, Iowa on Thursday, December 14, 2017.
Bill grew up and attended school in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area. After graduation, he went to a trade school for auto mechanics. He met his future wife, Loraine Drake, outside of St. Louis, Missouri before he entered the United States Army. He served from February 1943, until February of 1946. They were married November 12, 1943, at the First Congregational Church of Council Bluffs, when Bill was home on leave. After their marriage Bill served in the Philippines during World War II, while Loraine lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa. After Bill’s discharge, the couple lived in Philadelphia then Council Bluffs. They were blessed with three children, William Leigh, Steven LeRoy, and Martha Sue. Later Bill and Loraine moved to Los Angeles, California, for a year or so before they moved to the Big Island of Hawaii in 1974. They returned to Iowa in 1982, and moved to Lamoni in 1984.
Over the years Bill worked as an auto mechanic, managed a stereo company, and did a variety of construction projects including cabinets, tables, and various fine carpentry projects. He was the inspector for the construction of the rest area north of the Lamoni exit on Interstate 35. He was also very involved in the VFW in Lamoni and this region. He was always willing to line up a graveside military service for any veteran.
Bill was religious, patriotic, and a family man. He rode ponies and a Harley Davidson motorcycle in his youth and loved music throughout his life. In later years, he learned to play a Hawaiian steel guitar, and read gun, car, and airplane magazines and western books. He came from a family of jokesters, so Bill’s sense of humor shined in his puns and play on words. He loved to do woodworking for others. On Bill’s 75th birthday, he, his son, and his grandson, had a three-generation skydive jump together. It was a highlight in his life.
Preceding him in death were his parents; wife, Loraine, on September 17, 2011; sister, Peggy Johnson; brother, Jack Raiser; and son-in-law, Floyd Van Ert.
Survivors include his children, Will and wife, Francoise, of Toulouse, France, Steve and wife, Janet, of Maxwell, Iowa, and Martha of Leon, Iowa; numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren; many nieces and nephews; and other relatives and friends.
Memorial services will be held at the Lamoni United Methodist Church in Lamoni, Iowa at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, December 20, 2017, with Pastor Neil Montz officiating. Burial will be in the Iowa Veterans Cemetery, Adel, Iowa at a later date. Arrangements were through the Slade – O’Donnell Funeral Home of Leon and Lamoni, Iowa.
Memorials may be given to the VFW National Home for Children in Bill’s memory.
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, December of 2017
Decatur Obituaries maintained by Constance McDaniel Hall.
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