WATERLOO - Stella L. Bluhm, 88, of Waterloo, died Thursday, June 12, at Covenant Medical Center of natural causes; services 11 a.m. today at the chapel of Walnut Ridge Baptist Church, with burial in Garden of Memories Cemetery; Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel on Kimball, 233-3146, is in charge of arrangements; memorials to the church.

WATERLOO - Ronald A. Nisius, 59, of Jesup, formerly of Waterloo, died Thursday, June 12, at Covenant Medical Center of Lou Gherig's disease; services 10:30 a.m. Monday at Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on West Ridgeway, 233-3393, with burial in the Garden of Memories Cemetery; visitation 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday and for an hour before services Monday at the funeral home.

WATERLOO - Lila M. Anton, 95, of Friendship Village, died Thursday, June 12, at Covenant Medical Center of a stroke; services 11 a.m. today at Waterloo First United Methodist Church, preceded by family burial in Waterloo Memorial Park Cemetery; Locke Funeral Home, 233-6138, is in charge of arrangements; memorials to the church or Friendship Village.

WATERLOO - Adeline M. Califf, 97, of Waterloo, died Wednesday, June 11, at Covenant Medical Center of natural causes; services 10:30 a.m. today at Locke Funeral Home, 233-6138, with burial following cremation in St. Mary of Mount Carmel Cemetery, Eagle Center; visitation for an hour before services today at the funeral home; memorials to St. Edward Catholic Church.

WATERLOO - Dorothy Mildred Hyde, 85, of Country View Care Facility, died there Thursday, June 12, of natural causes; services 11 a.m. Tuesday at Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Service on South Street, Waterloo, 234-6274, with burial in Cedar Valley Garden of Memories, Cedar Falls; visitation an hour before services Tuesday at the funeral home; memorials to the family.

WATERLOO -Mary E. Peverill, 93, of Waterloo, died Thursday, June 12, at Allen Hospital of natural causes; services 2 p.m. Monday at Garden View Chapel Funeral Home, 232-2222, with burial in the Garden of Memories Cemetery; visitation 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday and for an hour before services Monday at the funeral home.

WATERLOO - Byron B. Burk, 35, of Waterloo, died Wednesday, June 11; services 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Locke Funeral Home, 233-6138, with inurnment at a later date in a National Veterans Cemetery; visitation 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the funeral home; memorials to the family.

WATERLOO - Lloyd E. Cook, 87, of Waterloo, died Thursday, June 12, at Ravenwood Nursing and Rehab Center of cancer; services 2 p.m. Tuesday at Kearns, Huisman-Schumacher Chapel on Kimball, 233-3146, with burial in Waterloo Cemetery with full military honors; visitation 5 to 7 p.m. Monday and for an hour before services Tuesday at the funeral home; memorials to the family.

CEDAR FALLS - Stephen C. Ridenour, 67, of Cedar Falls, died at home Tuesday, June 10; committal services 2 p.m. Monday at Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home, 266-7525, with inurnment in Fairview Cemetery at a later date; military honors by Cedar Falls AMVETS Post 49.

CEDAR FALLS - Anna Marie Gage, 85, of Cedar Falls, died Thursday, June 12, at Sartori Memorial Hospital; services 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home, 266-7525, with burial in the Garden of Memories Cemetery, Waterloo; visitation 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the funeral home; memorials to the family.

MAYNARD - Floyd Manson, 98, of Maynard, died at home Friday, June 13, after a brief illness; services 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Grace Lutheran Church, Fayette, with burial in Taylorsville Cemetery, Arlington,; visitation 4 to 8 p.m. Monday at Jamison-Schmitz Funeral Home, Maynard, (319) 283-4922, and for an hour before services Tuesday at the church.

POSTVILLE - Leona A. Foels, 83, of Postville, died Thursday, June 12, at Good Samaritan Center, Postville, following a brief illness; services 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Postville, with burial in Postville Cemetery; visitation 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Schutte Funeral Home, Postville, (and for an hour before services Monday at the church.

REINBECK - Betty Bicket, 76, of Reinbeck, died Thursday, June 12, in Branson, Mo., from injuries received in a automobile accident; services pending with French Hand Funeral Home, Reinbeck, (319) 345-2622.

Craig R. Clute (1964-1999)

WATERLOO - Craig R. Clute passed away due to complications from Juvenile Diabetes on March 19, 1999. On this, the 44th anniversary of his birth, his family wanted to honor him by recalling some of their fondest memories of Craig.

Craig was born on June 14, 1964, in Waterloo, to Doris and Bob Clute. In 1984, Craig moved to the Los Angeles area of California to be with his sister Cheryl and his brother Chuck. He graduated with a business degree from the College of the Canyons in Valencia, California and became a staff accountant for Fred Sands Real Estate in Brentwood, California.

Although Craig may have been unaware of his talents as a teacher, everyone whom he touched learned something from him. Craig had very strong opinions about everything. He certainly knew that Diet Pepsi was better than Diet Coke. He absolutely knew that the next three Star Wars movies could not possibly be as good as the first three. He knew without a doubt that a good John Wayne movie was even better than one starring Marisa Tomei. But as passionate as he was with his opinions, being someone's friend was more important than anything else, even if it made him drink Diet Coke to keep the friendship a happy one. We learned from Craig that it was far more important to be kind than to be right.

We learned from Craig that no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with. We had just put in a full day at work and had picked Craig up to go get something to eat. Rather than eating somewhere close to home, Craig thought it was a better idea to drive 60 miles to go to the first Krispy Kreme donut shop that had just opened in California. It was the perfect dinner and the perfect memory.

We learned that it is those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. Seeing Craig pick a cat out of a dumpster, brush its head off, kiss it on the head, and then run to get it some proper food is a precious memory. Getting the phone call from Craig that he found a great White House website-you know that we had to look at it-even though it was 11:00 at night. Making sure that he took the Amtrak to work on Thursdays because "the restaurant car served the perfect roast beef sandwich on Thursdays" is a wonderful memory. Going for a car ride with Craig just to see what was out there-priceless.

Craig taught us that everyone that you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile. He struck up conversations with the homeless men and women who would stand outside a convenience store. Craig would never give them money, but would always ask if they were hungry. If so, he would go in and buy them a sandwich. He would tell them of places that could possibly help them with shelter or food. All of the time, he would treat people with respect and a smile. He could make a bus driver, a busboy, or a barber all have a good day just because he told them that they had made his day a better one.

However, the greatest thing that Craig taught us was that life is tough, but he was tougher. No matter how sick he felt, he still wanted to get something done, go have fun, and make people smile. He, more than anyone, knew that life is short. That meant that he had to cram a lifetime of memories during a very short period of time, and that he had no time to waste. He lived every day to its fullest, and everyone around him got to live each day to its fullest too.

Most importantly, we have learned that we just wish that we had one more time to tell Craig that we loved him. We miss you Craig and will love you forever.