Obit: Getting, LeRoy Bud (1931 - 2018)

Transcriber: Robert Lipprandt
bob@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Burt, Gallagher, Getting, Hechsel, Jonas, McEathron, Scheel, Tscherter

----Source: The Cornell Courier - Sentinel (Cornell, WI) 9/04/2018

Getting, LeRoy “Lee” Bud (2 APR 1931 - 31 AUG 2018)

LeRoy “Lee” Bud Getting, 87, died peacefully at his home at Lake Holcombe, Aug. 31, 2018.

LeRoy was born April 2, 1931, on a farm south of Bingham Lake, Minn., the first son and second child of six born to Budd and Julie (Tscherter) Getting. He attended the District 78 rural school and spent most of his youth on farms south of Bingham Lake.

One of his favorite stories, was how he learned to drive a steel-wheeled Allis Chalmers tractor there as a child, before he was even big enough to reach the clutch and gas pedals. A lever was attached to the brakes so he could work them by hand and help out on the farm. LeRoy graduated from Windom High School in 1949, and entered the Army in 1950, during the Korean Conflict.
He became part of the 47th Division, Battery B, 1st Platoon, 125th Field Artillery.

He came home on leave to help with the threshing and always thought he would become a farmer. LeRoy was discharged from the Army in 1952, as a sergeant. He did not see active duty, but was stationed for a while at Camp Rucker, Alabama, and Fort Hood, Texas.

He then attended the Rice Lake Wisconsin Vocational School to learn drafting, and in 1954, took a Lumberman’s Short Course at the University of Minnesota, before he began working for Lampert Lumber Yards.

He met his wife, Ruby McEathron, while living in Rice Lake, and they were married for 62 years. He would drive her in his 1953 Cadillac DeVille, and willingly drove that car miles on graveled backroads to a rural Holcombe farm to visit her. They were married March 24, 1956, at the Highbanks Church of Christ in rural Holcombe, established by Ruby’s grandfather, the Rev. Alexander McEathron, who also conducted the wedding ceremony.

The couple made their first home in Rice Lake. Around 1957, they moved to Minnesota, and first lived in Hopkins, Minn. They then purchased a newly built home in the small town of Rosemount, Minn., when Lee became a manager for the local Lampert Yards. They raised their family in Rosemount, Minn., until 1997.

Lee enjoyed spending time with extended family and purchased lakeshore on Lake Holcombe, where the family vacation camped for many years. Lee also worked as an over-the-road driver and salesman for WimCo, and as a manager and sales wholesaler for Pack River Tree Farm Products, and continued as manager when it became the Edward Hines Lumber Company in Farmington, Minn. He made contacts with western lumber mills and re-distributed wholesale building materials. He enjoyed this job a lot.

In his retirement, he enjoyed a variety of hands-on sales positions in home centers such as Budget Power in Apple Valley, Minn. He constructed a home at the family camping spot on Lake Holcombe where he and his wife have lived for the past 20 years, and hosted hundreds of extended family gatherings.

He, along with a son and grandson, were avid collectors of toy tractors that he enjoyed displaying. He loved to pilot pontoon excursions on Lake Holcombe for guests.
Well into his 80s, he was well known as the neighborhood lawn care and snowplow man, generously loaned storage space in his garages to friends and family, and up to the last month of his life, he still had projects under construction.

He is survived by his wife – Ruby; four children – Kay (James Gallagher), Terry (Anita Jonas), Jon (Sue Hechsel) and Bruce (Rose Burt); six grandchildren – Madeline (Steve) Scheel, Samantha, Alexander, Kate, Ashley and Austin Getting; very soon, one great-grandchild; two brothers – Robert (Mary Kay) Getting and Richard Getting; a sister-in-law – Norma Getting; and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by two infant siblings – Marilyn and Roger; a brother – Ray Getting; a sister-in-law – Ann-Marie Getting; a brother-in-law – Lloyd McEathron; and a nephew – Robert McEathron.

At his request, a private family interment service will occur in lieu of a funeral.

Memorials can be made to support the Cornell Ambulance Service, P.O. Box 3, 412 South 3rd St., Cornell, WI 54732.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.leiserbortonfuneralhome.com.