David Looft Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

David Looft, age 77, a longtime farmer in the Fenton (Seneca) area passed away on December 29, 2017 at Windsor Manor Assisted Living in Algona. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Wednesday, January 3rd at Trinity Lutheran Church in Algona, with Rev. Tom Schlund officiating. Burial will be in the Blakjar Lutheran Cemetery in rural Seneca. Visitation will be 4:00 – 6:00 PM Tuesday at the Trinity Life Center. David was the third son born to his parents, Henry and Cena (Johannesen) Looft of rural Seneca. He was born at the family farm one mile west of Seneca in Kossuth County on February 3, 1940. He was baptized in the Lutheran faith on March 17, 1940 by Pastor S. O. Sande. He took confirmation and was confirmed by Pastor H.E. Rasmussen, Jr. on May 24, 1953 at Blakjar Lutheran Church, where he spent many summers mowing the church cemetery with a push mower. David attended Seneca Public School and graduated in 1957. While in school, he played basketball and baseball, with baseball being his favorite. He loved playing catch with his two brothers, Jack and Dick, and would also spend hours pitching a baseball against a cement water tank and having the ball bounce back to him. He played Legion Ball for Lone Rock and was a member of the 1957 Bancroft Legion Team that won the Iowa State Championship. The team then went on to the Nationals at Hobart, OK, where they lost out and ended their season with 45 wins and 2 losses. David attended Luther College in Decorah for two years before staying home to help on the family farm. He continued to play team ball for Lone Rock. He also became an avid fox hunter and would be out tracking them after a fresh snow. He enlisted in the 133rd Air Control Wing (ACW) Flight of the Iowa Air National Guard unit in Fort Dodge for three years in October 1960, and then transferred to the Air Force Reserve unit in Mason City for the remainder of his six year enlistment. Along with a life-long passion for farming, David also spent a number of years serving the community as an Asgrow seed dealer. Additional interests included bird watching and maintaining a number of bird feeders as well as a green thumb for his tractor-tire garden, including tomatoes, cucumbers and peas. His grandchildren often enjoyed sneaking bites of ground cherries from his garden as he teased them about eating them all up. Grandpa loved sharing with his grandchildren and passed along his love of fruit to many of them, who often stood leaning over the arm of his chair waiting for the next slice of orange or bite of apple. David married Virginia Lee Hoppe at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Truman, MN on June 20, 1962 and had 4 children to that union: Brian, Scott, Janet and Jason. They made their home north of Fenton on Highway 15 for 26 years. They then moved to the family farm west of Seneca in March 1988, where they lived until January 2012 when they moved to Algona. In May 2016, they moved to Windsor Manor Assisted Living in Algona. David and Virginia were members of Blakjar Lutheran Church until 1971. They then transferred to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fenton. In 2010, they transferred to Trinity Lutheran Church in Algona. David is survived by Virginia, his wife of 55 years, and their children: Brian Looft and wife Julie of Wichita, Kansas, Scott Looft and Nicole Foertsch of Algona, Janet Nyman and husband Arlen of Algona, and Jason Looft and wife Jennifer of Lewisville, Texas. He is also survived by his 9 grandchildren, Air Force Captain Jessica (Looft) Mead and husband Pat, Steven, Eric, Evan, Ashley, Samantha and Matthew Looft, and Benjamin and Ashton Nyman, a brother, John “Jack” Looft and wife Patricia “Pat” of Victoria, Minnesota, sisters-in-law, Elaine Looft and husband Bill Schulz of Arlington Heights, Illinois and Carol (Mrs. Marvin) Hoppe of Eden Prairie, Minnesota; a brother-in-law, Freeman Hoppe and wife Marian of St. James, Minnesota, and many cousins, nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Cena Looft, parents-in-law, Glen and Edna Hoppe, a brother, Richard “Dick” Looft; brothers-in-law, Marvin Hoppe and Milford Hoppe and wife Lois, a sister-in-law Shirley Thate and husband Robert, and aunts and uncles.

David Looft

February 3, 1940 - December 29, 2017