Ken Nurnberg
Kenneth Ormond Nurnberg, 95, longtime resident of Arispe, died Monday, December, 30, 2019. And, while the family asks for uninterrupted private mourning at home, the four Nurnberg siblings welcome and invite all able kith, kin, and friends to bring photos and stories to share at a public celebration of Ken’s life to be held from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 2,, 2020 at the Roadside Inn, Hwy 169 @ 400 Division St., Arispe, Iowa, 50831. An online guest registry may also be signed at www.powersfh.com in Creston for those unable to attend. Ken was born on a farm in Decatur Co., between Weldon and LeRoy, Iowa, on Wednesday, February 13, 1924, the second son and third child of Shirley Agnus Landrum Nurnberg and Roger E. Nurnberg. His mother was from Williamstown, KY, and his father was a first-generation German immigrant from Lyon Co, Kansas. Ken, was named for his maternal uncle, Ormond Landrum of Garden Grove, and spent his early years on their 160 acre rented farm in Garden Grove Township. Throughout life Ken recounted and entertained family with stories of his early childhood there. At age 15, (March 1939) Ken’s family moved from the LeRoy community to a “better” farm located ½ mile west of Arispe, where Ken entered High School at Arispe Consolidated School. While occasionally disengaged from regular classwork, he was known for colorful teenage pranks like his infamous act of purchasing limburger cheese from nearby Long’s Grocery then returning to the gymnasium and applying it to backs of the hot steam radiators thus causing early dismissal for the whole school on that cold winter’s day. He also met and began courting Marjorie Anderson, who lived two miles south of town and who graduated at age 17, a year ahead of him. Life changing tragedies struck twice during his high-school years. The first, on a crisp, frosty morning as the sun rose on Sunday, Nov. 12 1939, when his sister Nadine and the family’s first grandchild were expected home for a first visit. Ken and his father hurriedly set about getting the morning chores done. Trapping season too had just opened, so instead of accompanying his father to the pasture to count and feed cattle as usual, Ken jumped out of their vehicle to check his traps along the way. His Father proceeded to the old east-facing uphill, blind railroad crossing on Arispe’s great Chicago-Northwestern’s curve. Ken heard the whistle and screeching breaks of the southbound “MorningBug,” then metal hitting metal and he rightfully feared a fatality had occurred. Ken, his Mother, and older brother Mansel carried on with the farming, and Supt. E. Claire Henderson recognizing Ken’s potential and the situation in its entirety, asked Ken to teach the Industrial Arts Classes to his peers while finishing out his junior and senior year. Ill-luck again befell the family five days after Ken’s 18th birthday during freezing temperatures on Weds., Feb. 18th, 1942, when a spark from the chimney accompanied by strong northwest winds set the roof ablaze and burnt their fine two-story farm house to the ground. Yearning for a place and a family of his own home, Ken wooed and persuaded Marjorie who just completed her first year at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls to elope to Missouri where they were married at the manse in Tarkio the evening of July 18, 1942. Together they set up their first residence in a small apartment in Covington, KY, where Ken’s mother and Landrum grandparents and relatives resided. Due to a physical defect in his lower back, Ken was prevented from enlisting in WWII but served his country by first becoming a machinist and metal lathe operator making precision parts for the Army/Navy in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio. And in 1943, the couple moved to Wichita, KS, where Ken was hired on as Asst. Manager for newly formed Defense Transportation Co. where he both drove buses and helped grow the burgeoning system from 4 to 48 buses used to transport workers to and from the expanding network of airplane manufactures there. Following the War, the couple sought opportunity in Granger, WA. It was there that Kenneth purchased his first truck and began growing what became the Ken Nurnberg Trucking: Lime & Rock hauling business (1945-1998). Upon returning to Arispe in 1947, they encountered the post-war housing shortage. They purchased 2 lots with an orchard on E. Dutcher Ave., then Ken sawed in-half an old farm house Marjorie’s family owned and hauled it to town to remake it into the core of their family home. As the family grew, so too did the house - with two more building campaigns (1959 & 1969) that Ken planned, drew, and fully executed. Along with his full-time drivers, many teenagers from the area got their start in the truck-driving business at Nurnberg Trucking – in all, he employed 43 drivers over that span of 53 years. Within the trucking industry Ken was known for designing, cutting the steel, welding, and constructing his own lime spreaders, and for remaking and improving any tool or appliance he came across. He was a stickler for high standards, precision, timeliness, and instilled a strong work ethic in his drivers (and kids.) He didn’t suffer fools, he held strongly reasoned views and voiced them - but was open to reconsideration, he had an occasional fearsome hot temper - but he was equally kind and generous to family, neighbors, and community alike. Civic minded, Ken was a great promoter of business in Arispe, served on the city council for 20 years, and designed and built the BBQ grill and commercial bean cooker for community’s annual Hog Roast picnic. “After retirement” he spent hundreds of hours and years grooming, stewarding, and improving the Anderson family’s Century Farm, Ber-Mart Acres, in Jefferson Township, Ringgold Co. During the winter months you’d find him at home whittling intricate wooden chains, carving walking sticks from lumber cut at Ber-Mart, or cracking, then picking-out hickory and black walnut meats, as well as sipping coffee at Frank’s Filling Station or swapping tales with the Post Master as he collected the mail for all the “old folks” who lived at the east end of town. Ken leaves to cherish his memory: his spouse and partner of 77+ years, Marjorie Cressie Anderson Nurnberg; his four children: Ralph Martin (& Bonnie) Nurnberg of Alma, NE, Saundra Kay (& Richard) Harney of Maryville, MO, Karla Anne ( & Jon, deceased) Kerr of Altoona, IA, and Ronald Dean (& Joe L. Osgoode) Nurnberg of Oxford, MS; 7 grandchildren: Seth (& Lauren) Kerr, NyEela Harney, Latisha Harney ( & Jordan) Alsys, Kylene Harney (& Shaun) Defenbaugh, Nichole Miller (& Doug) Bierle, Shawna Nurnberg (& Brett) Hammond, Brittnay Nurnberg (significant other Randy Heckenlively); and 10 great-grandchildren: Oliver and Colt Defenbaugh, Olive, Vivian and Finn Madden; Thor and Aida Alsys; Dalten, Payten, and Hennessie Bierle, along with his Father’s youngest sister, Helen Nurnberg Kinghorn (now 98) and many well regarded nieces, nephews and their respective families on both sides of the family. He was preceded in death by his parents and step-father, Roger Nurnberg, Shirley Landrum Nurnberg Edwards and Orlo Edwards, and his brother (Homer) Mansel Nurnberg, his sister (Ruth) Nadine Nurnberg Holmes, and all in-laws. The family wishes to express thanks to Marilyn & Frank Eighme, Marsha & Terry Cheers, Sandy & Mike Rollings, Patty & Denny Wimmer for their many kind acts and to all the generations of former and current Arispe friends and wonderful neighbors who have continued to stop by, check-in, or remain just a phone call away. And, while the family asks for uninterrupted private mourning at home, the four Nurnberg siblings welcome and invite all able kith, kin, and friends to bring photos and stories to share at a public celebration of Ken’s life to be held from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 2,, 2020 at the Roadside Inn, Hwy 169 @ 400 Division St., Arispe, Iowa, 50831. An online guest registry may also be signed at www.powersfh.com in Creston for those unable to attend. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Ken Nurnberg be made to the Arispe Park Fund, c/o the City of Arispe, Attn: Mayor Denny Wimmer, P.O. Box 261, Aripse, IA, 50831 or to the Afton Volunteer Fire Dept., Attn: Brett Weis, P.O. Box 47, Afton, IA, 50830, or to a charity of your choice. VIEW VIDEO TRIBUTE HERE: (PASTE LINK IN NEW TAB) https://youtu.be/lkWIQNGDBysObituary
Kenneth Ormond Nurnberg, 95, longtime resident of Arispe, died Monday, December, 30, 2019. And, while the family asks for uninterrupted private mourning at home, the four Nurnberg siblings welcome and invite all able kith, kin, and friends to bring photos and stories to share at a public celebration of Ken’s life to be held from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 2,, 2020 at the Roadside Inn, Hwy 169 @ 400 Division St., Arispe, Iowa, 50831. An online guest registry may also be signed at www.powersfh.com in Creston for those unable to attend. Ken was born on a farm in Decatur Co., between Weldon and LeRoy, Iowa, on Wednesday, February 13, 1924, the second son and third child of Shirley Agnus Landrum Nurnberg and Roger E. Nurnberg. His mother was from Williamstown, KY, and his father was a first-generation German immigrant from Lyon Co, Kansas. Ken, was named for his maternal uncle, Ormond Landrum of Garden Grove, and spent his early years on their 160 acre rented farm in Garden Grove Township. Throughout life Ken recounted and entertained family with stories of his early childhood there. At age 15, (March 1939) Ken’s family moved from the LeRoy community to a “better” farm located ½ mile west of Arispe, where Ken entered High School at Arispe Consolidated School. While occasionally disengaged from regular classwork, he was known for colorful teenage pranks like his infamous act of purchasing limburger cheese from nearby Long’s Grocery then returning to the gymnasium and applying it to backs of the hot steam radiators thus causing early dismissal for the whole school on that cold winter’s day. He also met and began courting Marjorie Anderson, who lived two miles south of town and who graduated at age 17, a year ahead of him. Life changing tragedies struck twice during his high-school years. The first, on a crisp, frosty morning as the sun rose on Sunday, Nov. 12 1939, when his sister Nadine and the family’s first grandchild were expected home for a first visit. Ken and his father hurriedly set about getting the morning chores done. Trapping season too had just opened, so instead of accompanying his father to the pasture to count and feed cattle as usual, Ken jumped out of their vehicle to check his traps along the way. His Father proceeded to the old east-facing uphill, blind railroad crossing on Arispe’s great Chicago-Northwestern’s curve. Ken heard the whistle and screeching breaks of the southbound “MorningBug,” then metal hitting metal and he rightfully feared a fatality had occurred. Ken, his Mother, and older brother Mansel carried on with the farming, and Supt. E. Claire Henderson recognizing Ken’s potential and the situation in its entirety, asked Ken to teach the Industrial Arts Classes to his peers while finishing out his junior and senior year. Ill-luck again befell the family five days after Ken’s 18th birthday during freezing temperatures on Weds., Feb. 18th, 1942, when a spark from the chimney accompanied by strong northwest winds set the roof ablaze and burnt their fine two-story farm house to the ground. Yearning for a place and a family of his own home, Ken wooed and persuaded Marjorie who just completed her first year at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls to elope to Missouri where they were married at the manse in Tarkio the evening of July 18, 1942. Together they set up their first residence in a small apartment in Covington, KY, where Ken’s mother and Landrum grandparents and relatives resided. Due to a physical defect in his lower back, Ken was prevented from enlisting in WWII but served his country by first becoming a machinist and metal lathe operator making precision parts for the Army/Navy in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio. And in 1943, the couple moved to Wichita, KS, where Ken was hired on as Asst. Manager for newly formed Defense Transportation Co. where he both drove buses and helped grow the burgeoning system from 4 to 48 buses used to transport workers to and from the expanding network of airplane manufactures there. Following the War, the couple sought opportunity in Granger, WA. It was there that Kenneth purchased his first truck and began growing what became the Ken Nurnberg Trucking: Lime & Rock hauling business (1945-1998). Upon returning to Arispe in 1947, they encountered the post-war housing shortage. They purchased 2 lots with an orchard on E. Dutcher Ave., then Ken sawed in-half an old farm house Marjorie’s family owned and hauled it to town to remake it into the core of their family home. As the family grew, so too did the house - with two more building campaigns (1959 & 1969) that Ken planned, drew, and fully executed. Along with his full-time drivers, many teenagers from the area got their start in the truck-driving business at Nurnberg Trucking – in all, he employed 43 drivers over that span of 53 years. Within the trucking industry Ken was known for designing, cutting the steel, welding, and constructing his own lime spreaders, and for remaking and improving any tool or appliance he came across. He was a stickler for high standards, precision, timeliness, and instilled a strong work ethic in his drivers (and kids.) He didn’t suffer fools, he held strongly reasoned views and voiced them - but was open to reconsideration, he had an occasional fearsome hot temper - but he was equally kind and generous to family, neighbors, and community alike. Civic minded, Ken was a great promoter of business in Arispe, served on the city council for 20 years, and designed and built the BBQ grill and commercial bean cooker for community’s annual Hog Roast picnic. “After retirement” he spent hundreds of hours and years grooming, stewarding, and improving the Anderson family’s Century Farm, Ber-Mart Acres, in Jefferson Township, Ringgold Co. During the winter months you’d find him at home whittling intricate wooden chains, carving walking sticks from lumber cut at Ber-Mart, or cracking, then picking-out hickory and black walnut meats, as well as sipping coffee at Frank’s Filling Station or swapping tales with the Post Master as he collected the mail for all the “old folks” who lived at the east end of town. Ken leaves to cherish his memory: his spouse and partner of 77+ years, Marjorie Cressie Anderson Nurnberg; his four children: Ralph Martin (& Bonnie) Nurnberg of Alma, NE, Saundra Kay (& Richard) Harney of Maryville, MO, Karla Anne ( & Jon, deceased) Kerr of Altoona, IA, and Ronald Dean (& Joe L. Osgoode) Nurnberg of Oxford, MS; 7 grandchildren: Seth (& Lauren) Kerr, NyEela Harney, Latisha Harney ( & Jordan) Alsys, Kylene Harney (& Shaun) Defenbaugh, Nichole Miller (& Doug) Bierle, Shawna Nurnberg (& Brett) Hammond, Brittnay Nurnberg (significant other Randy Heckenlively); and 10 great-grandchildren: Oliver and Colt Defenbaugh, Olive, Vivian and Finn Madden; Thor and Aida Alsys; Dalten, Payten, and Hennessie Bierle, along with his Father’s youngest sister, Helen Nurnberg Kinghorn (now 98) and many well regarded nieces, nephews and their respective families on both sides of the family. He was preceded in death by his parents and step-father, Roger Nurnberg, Shirley Landrum Nurnberg Edwards and Orlo Edwards, and his brother (Homer) Mansel Nurnberg, his sister (Ruth) Nadine Nurnberg Holmes, and all in-laws. The family wishes to express thanks to Marilyn & Frank Eighme, Marsha & Terry Cheers, Sandy & Mike Rollings, Patty & Denny Wimmer for their many kind acts and to all the generations of former and current Arispe friends and wonderful neighbors who have continued to stop by, check-in, or remain just a phone call away. And, while the family asks for uninterrupted private mourning at home, the four Nurnberg siblings welcome and invite all able kith, kin, and friends to bring photos and stories to share at a public celebration of Ken’s life to be held from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. on Thurs., Jan. 2,, 2020 at the Roadside Inn, Hwy 169 @ 400 Division St., Arispe, Iowa, 50831. An online guest registry may also be signed at www.powersfh.com in Creston for those unable to attend. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Ken Nurnberg be made to the Arispe Park Fund, c/o the City of Arispe, Attn: Mayor Denny Wimmer, P.O. Box 261, Aripse, IA, 50831 or to the Afton Volunteer Fire Dept., Attn: Brett Weis, P.O. Box 47, Afton, IA, 50830, or to a charity of your choice. VIEW VIDEO TRIBUTE HERE: (PASTE LINK IN NEW TAB) https://youtu.be/lkWIQNGDBys
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