Luvern Bernard Digmann

Luvern Bernard Digmann

Hopkinton

Luvern Bernard Digmann, 94, of Hopkinton passed away peacefully on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at the Monticello Nursing & Rehab Center where he has lived since September 2018.

Visitation will be held from 3 – 7 p.m. on Friday, June 14, 2024, at St. Luke’s Catholic Church in Hopkinton where a rosary will be said at 3 p.m. and a vigil service will be held at 7 p.m. Visitation will continue Saturday from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. at the St. Luke’s prior to the funeral Mass.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at St. Luke’s with the burial in the Hopkinton cemetery with military honors. Rev. Kyle Digmann will officiate. Thoughts, Memories and Condolences may be left at www.goettschonline.com. Goettsch Funeral Home has taken Luvern and his family into their care.

uvern was born at the family farm near Hopkinton on December 24, 1929, the son of Frank and Mary (Wieferich) Digmann. He had a knack for always finding humor, jokingly claiming to be ‘a day older than Jesus’ with each passing birthday. His life as a farmer was lifelong. Horses Bert and Topsi were his first ‘tractors’. He proudly planted perfectly straight cornrows, he joyfully mowed the lawn at the farm even after he moved to the nursing home, and he ended his final years entertaining vivid farming dreams.

Although Luvern attended the Brooks one-room schoolhouse through 8th grade, he really graduated from the school of hard knocks. He was proud that he passed 4th grade after he missed much of the school year due to a bout of polio. When his draft number came up, there were doubts he’d pass the Army medical exam, but he defied expectations and served in the transportation unit in Aschaffenberg, Germany from 1951-1953.

Luvern married Dorothy Grundmeyer in 1955, but later divorced. He loved to spend time with family, play cards (especially pinochle), bowl, listen to country and big band music, and attend dances. He never met a stranger. In later years, he traveled extensively, with trips to Israel, Europe, Australia, Alaska, Hawaii, and most of the states. He loved seeing Doug Gabriel perform in Branson. For many years, he was an Above & Beyond hospice volunteer and led the rosary at the Monticello Nursing & Rehab Center. He was an active member of St. Luke’s, the CEW community and the Knights of Columbus. Luvern was a faithful Catholic whose passionate pro-life beliefs strongly influenced his life. He was a kind and gentle man.

Luvern is survived by brother Jack of Hopkinton and brother-in-law, Louis Sperfslage of Monticello. Five children: Ron (Diana) Digmann of Marion, Brother Craig Digmann (Glenmary Home Missioners) of Plymouth, NC, Marianne Wink of Alburnett, Jerry (Karol) Digmann of Worthington, and Sandy Ford of Cedar Rapids. 12 grandchildren: Lynn (Lance) Shannon of Cedar Rapids, Michelle Perry of Des Moines, Kim (Amron) Van Dolah of Toddville, Anthony (Stephanie) Digmann of Dyersville, Father Kyle Digmann of Ames, Kami Henry of Dubuque, Kaitlin Wink of Alburnett, Adam (Amanda) Digmann of Cedar Rapids, Andrea (Matt) Houselog of Dubuque, Nathan Digmann of Chicago, IL, Josh Ford of Tampa, FL, and Calvin Ford of Lisle, IL, and 20 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by an infant brother, sister Helen Sperfslage, brother Donnie, and sisters-in-law Janet and Mary Ann. In lieu of flowers, please direct memorials to Mary’s Inn, Dubuque, IA.