Obituary of Garmen Pflibsen

A funeral service for Garmen Pflibsen of Longemont, Colorado will take place on Saturday, January 3, 2015 at 10:30 A.M. at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake. Interment will follow at Lakeview Cemetery. A visitation with family present will take place at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Spirit Lake will take place Friday, January 2, 2015 from 5:00 -7:00 PM. Garmen Eugene Pflibsen, 89, passed peacefully into eternity of Monday, December 22, 2014 at Applewood Living Center in Longmont, Colorado. Garmen was born on November 8, 1925, in Ottosen, Iowa, the third of seven children (two girls and five boys) born to Benjamin and Leona Pflibsen. He joined the Army and fought in Germany during WW II under General George Patton. After the war was over, he was hospitalized for fatique. General Patton visited him in the hospital. When Garmen was going to stand at attention, the general told him not to get up but to rest. Garmen finished out his tour in Germany by working with the Red Cross. When he returned home to Iowa, he began farming and married Ardith Ann Benjamin on December 11, 1949 at Bode Lutheran Church, where they attended services. They had five children: Allen Kent, Carla Jean, Pauline Gayle, Byron Dean and Sheila Jane. He also worked at AgriCo in Humboldt, Iowa; a machine shop in Algona, IA; and McQuays in Spirit Lake, IA for 19 years. In 1987 they moived to Colorado where he and Ardith managed two different storage centers and an apartment house until their retirement. They spent several years traveling in their motor home, settling in Mitchell, SD for a few years, eventually moving to Colorado. He was preceded in death by his parents, Ben and Leona; sibliings Darlene, Bernadine Roberts, Donald, Marilyn and Vern; and his son Byron Dean Pflisbsen. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Ardith Pflibsen of Longmont, CO; a brother Francis Pflibsen of Rochester, MN; four children: Allen Pflibsen of Thornton, CO; Carla Hamilton of Spirit Lake, IA; Pauline Patterson of San San Angelo, TX; and Sheila Monson of Urbana, IA; nine grandchildren; Craig Pflibsen, Matthew Patterson, Trent Paterson, Laurie (Pflibsen) Cobb, Byron Ashley Patterson, Amber (Hamilton) Woefel, Rachel Monson, Kaia Monson and Sydney Monson; seven great grandchildren: Elija Pflisbsen, Madison Patterson, Caitlyn Cobb, Lily Patterson, Jamie Cobb, Byron Howard Patterson and Emilia Patterson; and 12 nephews and nieces.