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Norbert Lee Butikofer was born on June 30, 1939 to Walter and Lydia (Dennler) Butikofer on a farm west of Elkader, Iowa. He was baptized in Christ and later confirmed his faith at St. Paul\u2019s Methodist Church in Elgin.<\/p>\n
Norbert attended country school until 8th grade then Central High School in Elkader where he was involved in track and FFA.\u00a0 He was also a member of Worthwhile 4-H Club.\u00a0 In 1957, he graduated from high school and enlisted in the U.S. Army.\u00a0 He stayed in the States for basic training and then was sent to Italy where he worked as a telephone installer\/repairman.\u00a0 By the end of his time in the Army, Norbert had achieved the rank of Specialist-4th Class.<\/p>\n
Norbert returned home in 1960 and worked as a hired man on the farms of J.C. Costigan and his brother-in-law, Harlan Backhaus, for about a year.\u00a0 It was at this time he acquired a job working as a part-time flexible clerk for the Elkader Post Office.\u00a0 During this time, he also held various part-time jobs at the Elkader Co-op, Coast to Coast store, and the Elkader Movie Theater.<\/p>\n
In 1963, Norbert met Janet Zittergruen and on October 16, 1965, they were united in marriage at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Elkport, Iowa.\u00a0 Shortly after, Norbert took instruction and became a member of the Lutheran Church.\u00a0 This began a life-long active membership first at Immanuel Lutheran until it closed, and then at Hope Lutheran in Littleport, serving on council, ushering and helping out where needed in these congregations.<\/p>\n
Norbert and Janet first made their home in Elkader where Norbert continued to work part-time at the Post Office. He also joined his brother Bill, in a service station business, N & B Sinclair.\u00a0 On November 20, 1967, they were blessesd with the birth of a daughter, Lori Ann.<\/p>\n
In 1972, Norbert and Janet purchased his aunt and uncle\u2019s farm, west of Elkader. At that time, Norbert began milking cows and farmed the land while still working as a postal clerk. He worked hard, but also found time for recreation, church, and Lori\u2019s school activities. He was a member of the \u201cWhistlin\u2019 Bit Saddle Club\u201d and enjoyed riding his horse, \u201cPatches\u201d on Sunday trail rides and parades. He looked forward on weekends to fishing with his father-in-law, Hiram, on the Mississippi River.<\/p>\n
In 1984, because of a back injury, Norbert sold the cows, but continued to work for the Post Office.\u00a0 On Nov. 30, 1998, he was recognized for 40 years of service, and the mayor proclaimed it, \u201cNorbert Butikofer Day\u201d.\u00a0 He later retired in 2000.<\/p>\n
Over the years, some of Norbert\u2019s favorite pastimes were playing cards, gardening, woodworking and cooking.\u00a0 He especially loved raising roses and sharing them with family and friends. He worked part-time showing movies at the Elkader Theater.\u00a0 His greatest joy, however, was the time he spent with his family, especially his three grandsons, attending their school and college events and mentoring them on their 4-H projects.<\/p>\n
Norbert died peacefully at the Elkader Care Center on Saturday, February 2, 2019.\u00a0 He is survived by his wife, Janet; his daughter, Lori (Bradley) Phillips and three grandsons, Lukas, Trevor and Jarod Phillips of Decorah; one brother, Melbert (Jean) Butikofer of St. Olaf; sister-in-law, Mary (Jim) Keehner, of McGregor; brother-in-law, Harlan Backhaus of Garnavillo; nieces, nephews and numerous friends.<\/p>\n
Norbert was preceded in death by his parents; a sister, Zita Backhaus, and brother and sister-in-law, Bill and Marcia Butikofer.<\/p>\n
May his memory be blessed among us.<\/p>\n
Visitation will be held from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2019 at Hope Lutheran Church in Littleport, Iowa. There will also be a one hour visitation before services at the church on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Funeral Service will be at 11:00 am on Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at Hope Lutheran Church, Littleport, Iowa with Rev. Margaret\u00a0 Yackel-Juleen as the officiant.<\/p>\n
Burial will follow at East Side Cemetery, Elkader, Iowa.<\/p>\n
Leonard-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Elkader, Iowa is helping the family with arrangements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Norbert Lee Butikofer was born on June 30, 1939 to Walter and Lydia (Dennler) Butikofer on a farm west of Elkader, Iowa. He was baptized in Christ and later confirmed his faith at St. Paul\u2019s Methodist Church in Elgin. Norbert attended country school until 8th grade then Central High School in Elkader where he was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6624"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6639,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6624\/revisions\/6639"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}