Robert Linderbaum

Robert “Bob” Earl Linderbaum, age 76 of New Hampton, Iowa passed away Monday, July 8, 2019, at Linn Haven Rehab and Healthcare after valiantly battling cancer for the last year and a half. Friends may greet the family 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 10, 2019, at the Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home and Crematory in New Hampton. Visitation continues one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 11, 2019, at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Hampton with Pastor Kevin Frey officiating. Inurnment will be in the New Hampton City Cemetery. Bob’s vibrant life began on February 26, 1943, when his parents, Earl and Bernice (Budahl) Linderbaum welcomed a healthy, little boy into the world. He attended country schools as a youth before becoming a student at Ossian High School. He was part of the first graduating class, the Class of 1961, at South Winneshiek High School, and he also drove a mini-school bus his junior and senior years. During his high school days, he met the love of his life, Sheryl Hogenson. Everyone said it would never last, but the couple was still going strong 60 years later. Bob could give as well as he could take, and Sheryl and Bob loved giving each other grief but never lost the torch that was lit so long ago. After graduating from high school, he attended barber school in Cedar Rapids and then moved to New Hampton where he went to work at Ken’s Barber Shop, which was located just south of what is now State Bank. He gave Perry Laures his first haircut, and years later, he would work for Perry. On Sept. 12, 1964, he and Sheryl were married, and they eventually welcomed two sons — Luther and Lonny – to their home. His boys remember him as a kind-hearted, caring man who had a wonderfully dry sense of humor. He eventually left barbering — although he would still cut his sons’ hair — and went to work at what was then known as Security Bank. While he loved working as a teller and sometimes did some lending at the bank, he also had a passion for cars so when Vern Laures Auto Center offered him a job as a car salesman in 1976, he jumped at the opportunity. For 36 years, he sold cars and is remembered as one of the most “honest of a salesperson” one could meet and also a man who stood by cars made by GM. And from time to time, he’d give his friends driving Fords a hard time. During most years that Luther and Lonny were growing up, there was a Linderbaum vacation, but after Bob retired in 2012, the couple raised its travel game – visiting places like Alaska, Hawaii, and Norway and also taking part in numerous Chickasaw Event Center bus trips. Although he loved seeing and exploring new places, he especially liked the bus trips because he and Sheryl had an opportunity to spend time with their friends. When he was home, he didn’t miss his coffee group, nor did Sheryl have to ask him what his Wednesday night plans were, for that was the night he played cards with his buddies at the New Hampton Golf and Country Club. He loved supporting New Hampton students in their endeavors, and he and Sheryl often spent their night rooting for the Chickasaws, and he loved all children, including all of Vern Laures’ grandkids. Even when he was diagnosed with cancer, he remained upbeat and still flashed that Bob Linderbaum sense of humor. He was a member of the New Hampton Jaycees, Chickasaw Wellness Complex, New Hampton Cemetery Board, New Hampton Rotary Club, and Trinity Lutheran Church, where he and Sheryl spent their Sunday mornings every week and where Bob once served on the Church Council. Bob is survived by his wife, Sheryl; his two sons, Luther (Stacy) of Dorchester, and Lonny of West Union; brother, Roger (Kathy) Linderbaum; of Castalia; sister, Janice (Harold) Lien of Rochester, uncle, Lawerence Linderbaum of Guttenburg, two sisters-in-law Joyce (Ray), Piorkowski, Elkader, and Joyce (Lloyd) Radloff of Wisconsin; brother-in-law, Dale (Vicky) Hogenson, of Decorah; numerous nieces and nephews and cousins; and, of course, countless friends who Bob touched throughout the years. He was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Richard Linderbaum.