Lawrence “Larry” Sabelka

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 4:47 pm

Lawrence “Larry” Sabelka, 72, of Decorah, died Thursday, Nov. 28, 2019, at his home in Decorah, after a short bout with cancer. A celebration of Larry’s life is from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at the Schluter-Balik Funeral Home, 604 South Ave in Decorah.

Larry was born Sept. 5, 1947, to Helen and Mike Sabelka in Decorah. He grew up on a farm near Spillville and graduated from Rudophinum in 1965. After high school, Larry joined the Navy in 1965 and was stationed in Reykjavik, Iceland until 1969, when he came home to help farm.

Larry was married to Marilyn Lechtenberg April 17, 1970. Together they shared their love of animals; especially many family dogs, but one special dog, Marley.

A member of the Knights of Columbus, Larry spend many cold January, Monday nights calling BINGO for St Wenceslaus in Spillville. He was firm in his faith and always remained a member of St. Wenceslaus even though in the later years you would see them in Decorah at St. Benedict quite a bit.

In the last 15 years or so, you would see Larry delivering the Cedar Rapids Gazette to customers in Decorah. Larry had many loyal customers over the years and called many of them friends. Larry was very dedicated to delivering the news to all of his customers each and every day. In 2013, Larry became one of the route managers for Northeast Iowa.

Larry is survived by his loving wife, Marilyn, of 49 years; his children: Brandi (Mike) Brecht of Dubuque, Brenda (Josh) Werner of Golden Valley, Minn. and Mike (Amy) of Decorah; along with five grandchildren: Jace and Zach Kelchen, Jonas Werner and Grady and Brinley Sabelka. He also is survived by one sister, LaVerne Bruess of Cresco; LeRoy (Sandra) Sabelka, Decorah; Linus (Doris) Sabelka, Calmar; Leon (Elaine) of Arizona; and many extended family members.