William "Bill" F. Schrader

GARNER – William “Bill” F. Schrader, 76, of Garner died Sunday, February 15, 2015 at the Good Samaritan Society in Forest City.

Funeral services will be held 11 A.M., Saturday, February 21st at the United Methodist Church in Garner with Rev. Paul Evans officiating. Cremation will follow the service with inurnment at a later date in Audubon, Iowa.

Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 P.M., Friday at Cataldo Funeral Chapel in Garner with a Masonic service by the Bethel Masonic Lodge # 319 at 7 P.M. Visitation will continue one hour prior to services at the church on Saturday.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials to the Kidney Cancer Association (www.kidneycancer.org) or the United Methodist Church in Garner.

William Franklin Schrader, the son of William and Nettie (Lane) Schrader, was born July 5, 1938 in Audubon, Iowa. He was baptized and confirmed at the Audubon United Methodist Church. Bill attended rural school near his home and Audubon High School. On September 2, 1955 he was united in marriage to Elizabeth Petersen at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. Bill graduated from Midland Linotype School in Charles City and worked at newspapers in Williamsburg and Ames before purchasing the Wall Lake Blade in 1961. He also owned The Observer, Breda News and Charter Oak Times. In 1982, he purchased the Garner Leader and later the Southern County News and Corwith Times. In 2007, he sold the newspapers and retired.

Bill was a true Iowa Hawkeyes fan, attending both football and basketball games for many years. He enjoyed car racing including International Sprint Car Races in Knoxville, Iowa and NASCAR racing. He also enjoyed weekends boating and fishing in Okoboji.

He was a member of the Garner United Methodist Church where he served on various committees. He was a member of the International Lions Club since 1983. Bill served as Garner Lions Club President and District Governor of 9 x 2 of Iowa from 1992 to 1993. He also served on the Iowa Lions Foundation Board and Lions State Editorial Board. Bill also was a member of the Garner Bethel Masonic Lodge No. 319, Shriners Club and Scottish Rite.

Those left to cherish his memory are his wife of 59 years, Elizabeth Schrader of Garner; four sons, Bill, Jr. (Desiree) Schrader of Alamo, CA, Gregg (Julie) Schrader of Wall Lake, IA, Mark (Teresa) Schrader of Arlington, TX, and Tracy Schrader of Dallas, TX; seven grandchildren, Austin (Brilynn) Schrader, Jessica (Matt) Brozio, Kaitlin (Mike) DeSoe, Kelly Schrader, Collin Schrader, Lauren Schrader and Kyle Schrader; a great granddaughter, Logan; many extended family; and friends.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents; infant son, Timothy Lee; infant grandson, Derek Schrader; infant sister; Carolyn; and a brother, Gordon (Betty) Schrader.