Lawrence Auen, age 88 of Wall Lake, IA, passed away on Sunday, September 15, 2024, at Twilight Acres Nursing Home in Wall Lake. Lawrence Dean Auen was born on April 15, 1936, to parents Leslie and Ruth (Kaiser) Auen in Carroll, IA. He was baptized as an infant at the Wall Lake Presbyterian Church and recommitted to Christ in 2000 at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Lake View. The family lived on a farm in Herring, IA, and Lawrence attended country school through the eighth grade not far from the farm. He graduated from Wall Lake High School with the class of 1954. A few years after graduation, Lawrence and a few of his buddies enlisted in the United States Army. Lawrence served in the Army until being honorably discharged on October 5, 1957, at which time he started serving in the Army Reserves. Once he returned home from the Army, he worked on the family farm in Wall Lake. The family left the farm and moved to town in 1958 which is when Lawrence started working for Hansen Silo.
On January 7, 1959, Lawrence married Patricia Ann Fowler in Jackson, MN. The couple lived in Lake View before moving to Oregon where they lived for about four years before returning and settling in Lake View. They later moved to Wall Lake where they lived until moving into Twilight Acres Nursing Home.
Lawrence worked most of his life as a truck driver and mechanic. He started driving for Hallett Materials in 1991 and retired from there in 2017.
Outside of trucking, Lawrence did a lot of carpentry work, loved woodworking and building things. He did all of his own remodeling over the years and loved lending his services to his family members, friends, and those in need, especially the elderly at his church. He thought nothing of going to their homes to repairs things free of charge when they needed something done. Lawrence took care of snow removal and mowing at the church until his health no longer allowed him to. He and Pat were very active members of the church.
Lawrence wasn’t shy about the fact that he was a recovering alcoholic. He faithfully attended AA meetings and believed whole-heartedly in the process of sharing his struggles with alcohol with others struggling with it. He always enjoyed watching NASCAR, and he loved animals. He had many dogs and cats over the years that he adored. In his free time, he could be found at the community center playing cards with the guys or even fishing on occasion. He loved nothing more than to spend time with his siblings and all of his nieces and nephews.
Lawrence was a gentle, quiet, compassionate and giving guy who will be missed dearly by all who knew and loved him. He loved life and when asked how his day was his answer would always be “every day is a holiday” as he knew how precious of a gift life was and to be able to wake up every morning, that alone was worth celebrating.
Survivors include his siblings: Ronald Auen of Omaha, NE, Larry (Mary) Auen of Audubon, IA, Peggy Auen of Omaha, NE, Gary (Julie) Auen of Elk River, MN, and Debbie Auen of Omaha, NE; nieces and nephews: Charlene Green, Pam King, Connie Radke, Thomas Auen, Christopher (Jessica) Auen, Rhian (Dan) Auen, Steven (Kristyn) Wehde, Marie Wehde, Gabriel Auen, Meghan Garfield, Jessica (Bryan) Galloway, Rachel Galloway, Sharon Hoffard, Jim Remmick, and Rick Remmick; others extended family members and friends.
Lawrence was preceded in death by his wife, Pat Auen; parents Les and Ruth Auen;
parents-in-law Keith and Neva Fowler; infant brother John Auen; sisters Sandra Rench and Janice Wehde; nephews Stewart Green, Mark Brian Wehde, Matthew Wehde, and Allan Remmick; niece Renee Nichols; brothers-in-law Kenneth and David Fowler; and sister-in-law Leanne Remmick.
