Ron "Butch" Weirich

Ron “Butch” Weirich, 85, of Atlantic, Iowa, and formerly of Lewis, died Monday, May 2, 2022, at his home.

On September 15, 1936, Ruben Ronald Weirich was born in his Grandma’s house just west of Lewis, Iowa. Not many people knew him as Ruben; he was more commonly known as Ron, Butch, Dad & his favorite name - Grandpa. He grew up farming with his family & spent as much time as he could outside.  In 1955, he graduated from Lewis High School and moved to Florida to work on a dairy farm. In 1956, he returned to Iowa and was lucky enough to meet the love of his life, Lavone Holmes. After two years of dating, they got married on August 18, 1958, according to him - Lavone will tell you it was August 17^th!  He was so proud to have been married for almost 64 years! They were blessed with four children, Marvin, Cindy, Rhonda & Gloria.

Ron “Butch” spent 20 years working at the Walnut Grove Research Farm taking care of all sorts of farm animals. He used to love taking his kids to do chores on the weekends and getting them a bottle of orange soda. He loved caring for animals and one of his favorite stories to tell was of his favorite horse Rex who did not like women, and ironically, he ended up selling him to a women’s camp!

He also loved camping, hunting, fishing, bird watching, woodworking, gardening, square dancing, and later in life, teasing his grandchildren and playing with his great-grandchildren. His favorite place to go was Alaska to visit his sister. He also loved playing Phase 10 with Lavone & his grandchildren though he always thought Lavone was cheating because she *always* won! His favorite show was Wheel of Fortune (Don’t call between 6:30-7pm!) and the rodeo channel.

The day before Ruben/Ron/Butch/Dad/Grandpa passed away, he was able to spend the day with his family celebrating Lavone’s 85^th birthday. He had the best time seeing some of his kids, grandkids & great-grandkids. He was so happy to watch the kids do a belated Easter egg hunt, watch little Logan crawl, get two hugs from Hailey, and watching Allison, Abigail, Arizona, Austin, and Lane roll down the hill. It was the perfect last day for him!

He is survived by his wife, Lavone (Holmes) Weirich; three children, Marvin (Doreen) Weirich, Cindy Cook, and Rhonda (Todd) Osborn; grandchildren, Lee Weirich, Jacquie (Mason) Phillips, Kasey (Tyler) Harper, Ashley (Trent) Anderson, Ryan (Elle) Osborn, Sara Osborn, Andrew (Amber) Tye, Josh (Emaleigh) Tye, and Amber Tye; and great-grandchildren, Lane, Hailey, Logan, Allison, Abigail, Arizona, Austin, and one on the way.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Ruben and Gladys; two sisters, Eleanor and Evelyn; two brothers, Gerald and Glenn, one daughter, Gloria; two grandsons, Dustin and Joseph; and numerous other loved family members. 

Visitation with the family present will be held from 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 5^th at Roland Funeral Home in Atlantic.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, May 6^th at Zion Lutheran Church in Atlantic.  Burial will be in the Oakwood Cemetery in Lewis.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to the family for designation at a later date.

Roland Funeral Service is caring for Ron’s family and his arrangements.  Condolences may be left at www.rolandfuneralservice.com.

In the words of Grandpa, “Glad you got to see me”.