Ralph O. Schoning, 78, of Reinbeck, Iowa, died Monday, October 10, 2005, at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, Iowa. Funeral services will be 1:30 P.M., Wednesday, October 12, 2005, at the United Methodist Church in Reinbeck, with Pastor Dave Nolte officiating. Burial will follow at the Reinbeck City Cemetery in Reinbeck. Visitation will be Tuesday, October 11, 2005, from 5:30 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. at French-Hand Funeral Home in Reinbeck. Memorials may be directed to the United Methodist Church in Reinbeck, or to Alcoholics Anonymous.
Ralph was born January 9, 1927, in Clay Center, Kansas, the son of Olaf and Emma (Johnson) Schoning. Ralph lived in Kansas until the mid 1950?s when he moved to Reinbeck, Iowa. He did custodial work at the United Methodist Church in Reinbeck, Reinbeck Community Schools and also at Crossroads Center in Waterloo. He also worked as a farmhand on his brother-in-law Foster Owen?s farm. He was a member of the Reinbeck United Methodist Church, and was an Alcoholics Anonymous Crusader.
He is survived by one sister-in-law, Shirley Vaughn of Monmouth, Illinois; many nieces and nephews; Mike Owen and his wife Pat of Grundy Center, Iowa; Douglas Schoning and his wife Polly of Manhattan, Kansas; Jacalyn Richter and her husband Neil of Green, Kansas; Sandra DeLair and her husband Bill of Phoenix, Arizona; January Ehrig and her husband Paul of Grundy Center, Iowa; Judy Anderson and her husband Robert of Geneva, New York; Delbert Schoning and his wife Joneen of Olathe, Kansas; Jared Owen and his wife Kathryn of Hudson, Iowa; Ron Schoning of Phoenix, Arizona; Karen Stouffer and her husband Ron of Owensboro, Kentucky; Linda Gibson and her husband John of Rockford, Illinois; and Kris Wieck and her husband Paul of Clive, Iowa.
He was preceded in death by his parents; three sisters, LaVerne Keller, Grace Owen, and Olive Houser; and three brothers, Arvid Schoning, Walter, Schoning, and Warren Schoning.