Alvin E. Rippke

Moville, Iowa - Alvin Edward Rippke, 90, of Moville died Monday, Jan. 21, 2013, at Countryside Senior Living in Sioux City following a brief illness.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Moville, with the Rev. Barb Spaulding officiating. Burial will be in Arlington Township Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of McCulloch Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home in Moville.
Alvin was born on July 27, 1922, to Otto Henry and Margretha (Hansen) Rippke, at their farm home located five miles south of Moville. He was the youngest of their eight children. Alvin attended Moville District No. 6 rural school and graduated from Moville High School in 1941. Following graduation, he farmed with his father until he was drafted into the U.S. Army in May 1945. During his time in the service, Alvin spent 10 months in Paris, France, with the military police battalion. He was discharged in November 1946. Alvin then resumed farming with his father and began farming operations of his own after his father’s death in 1948.
On Aug. 22, 1948, Alvin was united in marriage with Marion Helen Hamann of Anthon, Iowa. The couple moved to the farm located directly north of his parents' home, where they lived for 62 years of their married life and where Alvin resided until his recent illness. They became parents of five children, David, Neil, Diane, Dale and Byron, 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. Alvin was engaged in grain and livestock farming for most of his career. He also worked for 12 years at North American Manufacturing and was a local DeKalb-Pfizer seed dealer.
His interest in community affairs led him to serve on the Woodbury County Extension Council, where he served one year as president, and to spend several years as a 4-H project leader for the Moville Progressive Ags 4-H Club. Alvin donated 15 gallons of blood to the Siouxland Blood Bank after his retirement.
Alvin and Marion loved to dance and were longtime members of the Kingsley Swingers Square Dance Club. They also enjoyed camping and logged many miles traveling mostly in the scenic southwestern United States.
Alvin was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Moville and served as president of the church council for four years. He was a member of Lutheran Brotherhood, the Parish Building Committee and served his church in various other capacities over the years. Alvin was proud to have represented area Lutherans one year as a delegate to the Lutheran Nation Convention in Moorhead, Minn.
Alvin is survived by his five children and their spouses, David and wife, Debbie of Genoa, Neb., Neil and wife, Joylyn, of Moville, Diane and husband Leslie Meier of Iowa Falls, Iowa, Dale and wife Sharon of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and Byron and wife Becki of Ames, Iowa; 13 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; his sister, Margaret Byers of Moville; and sisters-in-law, Mildred Fitchner, Margaret Hamann and Margaret Milligan.
Alvin was preceded in death by his wife, Marion, in 2010; his parents; grandson, Dylan Rippke; brothers, Otto, Leonard and Wilbur; and sisters, Sophia, Tena and Pauline.