Lennie Leon Franzen dies at 61
Lennie Leon Franzen age 61, of Fredericksburg, died Friday, July 8, 2016 at his home in Fredericksburg.Memorial service will be held 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home in New Hampton with Rev. Kevin Frey presiding.Friends may greet the family from 3 – 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at the funeral home.Interment will be held at a later date.Lennie Franzen was born May 13, 1955 in New Hampton, the son of Arnold and Elsie (Wilke) Franzen. He attended Catholic school in Lawler and then went to Turkey Valley Schools before graduating from Turkey Valley High School in 1974. After graduation he went to work for Earl Drewelow at the mink farm. He worked at the mink farm for many years, working for Earl, Harvey Drewelow and most recently Lennie Drewelow. He enjoyed building cages and driving the feed truck. Lennie continued working there his whole life right up until his death.Lennie enjoyed working on cars and tinkering with anything he could get his hands on. He also liked helping the Drewelow’s farm their land. Lennie was always a jokster and had a wonderful sense of humor. You could often find him at auctions looking at the dollar boxes, and usually bringing a truckload of them home. If he wasn’t at an auction you may find him at one of the many tractor pulls in North East Iowa or mowing the grass at the pond. Lennie will always be remembered as having many friends and always willing to help them out.Lennie is survived by one daughter, Jenny (Brent) Schwickerath of New Hampton; one son, Billy (Katie) Franzen of Lawler; two grandchildren, Mia and Ada Schwickerath of New Hampton; one brother Larry (Mary) Franzen of Fredericksburg; five sisters, Gerri (Bob) Randall of Eyota, Minn., Leona (Fred) Murray of Fredericksburg, Linda (Ken) Schaufenbuel of Lawler, Lorraine (Ray) Armbrecht of Fredericksburg, LeAnn Franzen of Lawler; many nieces and nephews; special friends Jim and Ranae Farrell of Boyd.He was preceded in death by his parents Arnold and Elsie Franzen ; three brothers Lyle, Leo and LaVerne Franzen.