Lawrence Zech

Lawrence Henry Zech was born June 25, 1934 in Havelock, Iowa to Henry and Reka Zech. He was raised and educated in Pocahontas, Iowa, where he graduated from Pocahontas High School. He went to the University of South Dakota in Yankton, South Dakota. Lawrence entered the US Army on November 27, 1956 serving until receiving an Honorable Discharge on October 23, 1957. He was united in marriage to Marilyn Peters on June 3, 1956 in Pocahontas. The couple made their home in Pocahontas until moving to Spirit Lake in 1969, where they raised their family. Lawrence owned and operated Zech Hardwoods in Spirit Lake. He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Spirit Lake. He was also a member of Twilight Lodge #329 as well as other Masonic bodies, and served on the Property Committee at Lutheran Lakeside Camp. In recent years, Lawrence and Marilyn have served as the Western Iowa Synod Well Project Coordinators. They traveled to Tanzania to train a local team to drill for safe drinking water. Upon returning to the US, Lawrence and Marilyn have continued to assist the Tanzania team through email. Lawrence passed away Friday, November 2, 2007 at his home in Spirit Lake at seventy-three years of age. He is survived by his wife, Marilyn; son, Keith Zech and wife, Joanne, and their children, Anna, Jon and Kayla of Gardendale, Alabama; daughters, Diane Munch and husband, Gerald, of Omaha, Nebraska, and Malisa Brown and husband Tharon and their children, Austen, Torrey and Abbey of Sioux City, Iowa. Also surviving are his sister, Alberta Bohman of Belmond, Iowa; aunt, Irene Jacobson of Wycliff, Minnesota and many nieces and nephews. Other children who were raised by Lawrence and Marilyn include, Donna Steward of Cherokee, Iowa, Kenneth Evans of Spirit Lake and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, a brother, infant sister and a brother-in-law.