William Oliver Young

William Oliver Young, 89, of Cleveland, died Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at his home.
Burial will be on Saturday, April 23, 2016 at 10 am with a grave side service at Grandview Cemetery in Austin, MN.
Military Honors will be provided by the Austin Area Honor Guard.

William was born on October 23, 1926 in Bertha Minnesota to Irvin and Emma (Erkel) Young. In 1932 the family moved back to Le Center.
He graduated in 1944 from McKinley High School in Le Center. William served in the United States Army from October 1944 - 1946 in the artillery in Germany/France. He worked for the Hormel company in Austin until he retired in 1982.

William was a lifetime member of the VFW in Port St. Joe, Florida. He enjoyed fishing, football, baseball, reading, and politics.

William is survived by his children, Sharon (Jim) Olson of Cleveland, and William (Danita) Young of North Mankato; 12 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Also, 3 stepchildren, Debra (Dennis) Watkins of Enterprise, Alabama, Jan Comisak of Panama City, Florida, Paul Comisak of Panama City, Florida; 7 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild.

William is preceded in death by his parents; wife, Ilene; second wife, Gloria; daughters, Wendy McFarlin, and Lori Hintz; siblings, Francis Ganfield, Robert Young, and Gordon Young; and stepson, Mitchell (Sue) Christiansen.

Arrangements are with the Le Center Funeral Home. 507-357-6116. Www.lecenterfuneralhome.com.

William "Bill" Oliver Young
October 23, 1926�April 5, 2016 | Age 89 years 5 months and 13 days

Bill was born to Irvin Finley Young and Emma Adolphia Erkel Young in Bertha Minnesota. He was the youngest of four children; Francis, Robert, Gordon and William. In 1932, at age six, the family moved back to LeCenter, Minnesota to farm where he grew up helping on the farm. As a young boy he did a lot of fishing and hunting. He attended LeCenter schools, graduating from McKinley High School in 1944.

He served in artillery in Germany/France for the United States Army from October 1944-1946. After the war, he moved back to LeCenter and soon after moved to Austin Minnesota. He helped his sister Francis and her husband Lawrence work their restaurant known as the Log Cabin. There that he met his future wife, Ilene. He started work at the Hormel Company on December 10th 1947 and on January 17th 1948 married Ilene Mae Cramer. The newlyweds , ages 19 and 17, took in Ilene's 12 year old sister, Marian, so Bill helped raise her. Bill and Ilene had four children: Sharon, March 15, 1949, Wendy, April 12, 1951; William, April 9, 1957; and Lori, February 22, 1962. Ilene died on February 8th 1972. On July 14,1973, he married Gloria Comisak.

He retired in 1982 after 35 years with the Hormel Company. Soon he decided to move "up north," where they lived and played for almost ten years� fishing all summer and riding snowmobiles all winter, putting on hundreds of miles a year. When it got hard for him to pull the snowmobile out of the snowbank, they moved to Florida where friends Betty and Don Rudd lived. So in June 1992, after a big party, they headed south to Mexico Beach, Florida. On September 12, 1993, his daughter Wendy passed away at just 42 years old. Bill enjoyed Florida and continued fishing, even taking his son out on the gulf fishing for sharks. He and Gloria walked a lot on the beach. He missed his Viking football so much that he bought satellite to see every game. On February 14th 2001 at age 38, his daughter Lori passed away. Gloria passed away on May 01, 2002. For a few years after Gloria died, he drove to Minnesota for summer and back to Florida in the fall, until deciding in early 2011 to move back to Minnesota permanently.

Bill moved in with his daughter Sharon (and Jim) at her lake home in Cleveland, a home built by Bill's dad, just six miles from LeCenter. He enjoyed remodeling the home. He was a good carpenter. He continued to enjoy fishing and reading on his deck. He took several bus trips to see the Twins play baseball. He was good with numbers. He had no patience! He had a good sense of humor. He knew a lot. He knew everything. He liked his bananas green. He liked the grass short. He was fussy about his car. He loved strawberry jam on his ice cream, rhubarb pie and peanut butter cups. He hated tea and rice. He was a good cook, but didn't want to cook in his later years. He was especially proud of being able to have two five generation pictures taken. He wanted to make 90 and he couldn't wait to vote in this years' election. On April 5th 2016 Bill passed away at his home from COPD.