Obituary of Bob Vaage

Funeral services for Rev. Robert Vaage will be 10:30 am, Thursday, December 1, 2016, at First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Interment will be at Milford Cemetery in Milford. Visitation will begin 4 pm, Wednesday, November 30, 2016, with the family present from 4 - 7 pm at First Lutheran Church in West Okoboji. Reverend Robert C. Vaage of First Lutheran Church, West Okoboji, Iowa passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, November 26, 2016 at Spencer Hospital. He was 57. Robert (Bob) Carl Vaage was born on February 27, 1959 in Forest City, Iowa to LaVern and Karen Vaage. He grew up in Mason City, Iowa and graduated from high school in 1977. He was very athletic and participated in football, basketball and track. At a very young age he dedicated his life to Christ and attended Riverside Bible camp as a teenager. Throughout high school he was very active in the Abundant Life Christian youth group. Bob attended Waldorf College in Forest City from 1977-1979 where he cultivated many life-long friendships. While at Waldorf he served as Religious Life Director and enjoyed playing washtub bass in the Sonshine Band. He attended Oral Roberts University for one semester in the fall of 1979 but in early 1980 transferred to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. It was here at Concordia that Bob met the love of his life, DeeAnn Simpson Vaage, while singing together on an outreach team. During the summers of 1980 to 1983 he worked as a counselor, Outcamp Director and Program Director at Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp on West Lake Okoboji. He enjoyed playing guitar, singing and leading worship for the campers. Following his college graduation in 1981, Bob felt called to ordained ministry and began studying at Luther Northwestern Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. A year later, Bob and Dee were married on September 4, 1982 in Herman, Minnesota. In 1985 Bob, under the faithful leadership of his life-long mentor Pastor Durwood Clauson, completed his internship at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sibley, Iowa. As a young intern he helped co-write and then portrayed Jesus in their first community Passion Play which 30 years later is still being performed during Holy Week. Following Bob's ordination on June 8, 1986, he accepted a call as Associate Pastor to First Lutheran Church in Sioux City, Iowa. While living in Sioux City, Bob and Dee celebrated the birth of their three sons. In 1996 Bob was called to serve as Senior Pastor to First Lutheran Church in Milford, Iowa. One of his greatest accomplishments during his 20 years of service at First Lutheran was building a new home for the church on Three Cross Road, West Okoboji in 2006. In ministry Bob had a passion for preaching, evangelism, mission work, camping ministry, contemporary-style worship, and mentoring interns and lay leaders in the church. One of his amazing gifts was remembering people's names even after only one encounter. Bob was also gifted in presenting the gospel through annual Lenten and periodic Living Last Supper portrayals. He loved to play guitar during worship and many times used it to entertain the nursing home residents with his silly songs. He participated in many service trips with the youth group including several to Mexico where he enjoyed the opportunity to practice his Spanish. He was an active member of Lutheran Services in Iowa, Milford Kiwanis, Iowa Via de Cristo and the Dickinson Country Ministerial Association. Bob loved sports and being physically active. His latest endeavor was mastering yoga! Bob served as a coach for many of his sons' youth football, baseball and soccer teams and enjoyed many summer Scouting trips with them and other members of the Milford Boy Scout Troop 170. In recent years Bob and Dee enjoyed traveling together. Their travels included trips to Italy, Israel, Chile and Hawaii. But his favorite adventure was to Norway with his family in 2014 where he met many Vaage relatives from his ancestral home. Bob is survived by his wife DeeAnn (Simpson) Vaage, three sons Jonathan (Michea) of Austin, TX, Christopher of Austin, TX and Erik of St. Paul, MN, his parents, LaVern and Karen (Stossivich) Vaage of Mason City, IA and one brother, Jeff (Beth) Vaage of Pleasant Hill, IA. Bob was preceded in death by his grandparents and other extended family members. He was a faithful husband, father, uncle, cousin, pastor, mentor, colleague and friend to those who loved him within his family, church, community, and all over the world. In lieu of flowers, memorials in honor of Pastor Bob may be directed to: Ingham Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp or First Lutheran Foundation. 1525 Three Cross Road Milford, Iowa 51351