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Francis 'Shorty' Hentges, 97

Lead Summary

Francis "Shorty" Hentges age 97 of New Hampton, IA, died Saturday, October 27, 2018, at the New Hampton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, October 31, 2018, at Holy Family Parish, New Hampton with Rev. Brian Dellaert celebrating the Mass. Interment will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, New Hampton with Aaron Batchelder, Jake Cruze, Matt Hentges, Chance Harvey, Ben O’Malley and Ryan Timlin serving as pallbearers.
Friends may greet the family 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, October 30, 2018, at the Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home in New Hampton. Visitation continues an hour prior to the Mass on Wednesday at the church.  Online condolences for Shorty's  family may be left at hugebackfuneralhome.com
Francis Jerome “Shorty” Hentges was born February 28, 1921, near North Washington, IA, the youngest child to Frank and Anna (Hilsman) Hentges. He received his education at the former St. Mary’s School in North Washington. While at a dance in Lawler, IA, he met his future love, Myrna Costigan. The couple was married April 16, 1947, at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Lawler and were blessed with 71 years of marriage as well as four children; Kathy, Jerry, Colleen, and Tom. Shorty initially worked on the family farm until 1947 at which time he began working for Rath Packing Company in Waterloo. In 1953, he was transferred to New Hampton to operate the Rath buying station just north of New Hampton. He worked a total of 38 years for Rath. Shorty was an avid fisherman, having fished with nearly all the area fisherman at one time or another. He and Myrna loved going to dances, watching New Hampton sports, especially baseball and football and he rarely turned down a game of cards. He was a member of Holy Family parish and a life-long member of the Knights of Columbus. He will certainly be remembered as a wonderful husband as well as the best dad and grandpa a family could ask for.
Survivors include his wife, Myrna; two daughters, Kathy (Mark) Timlin of Lawler, Colleen (Paul) Kruger of New Hampton, one son, Tom (Carol) Hentges of Eagan, MN; daughter-in-law, Paula Hentges of Spirit Lake, IA; eight grandchildren, Tera O’Malley, Brooke Batchelder, Ryan Timlin, Leah Cruze, Heather Harvey, Molly Timlin, Jenna Hentges and Matt Hentges; ten great-grandchildren, Patrick & Violet O’Malley, Finley, Brecken & Locklin Batchelder, Everleigh, Stella and Kaia Cruze, Corbin & Penn Harvey.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Jerry Hentges on December 22, 2010; one brother, Ralph (Shirley) Hentges; two sisters, Marcella (James) Carlin, Muriel (Ike) Peters.

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