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John Wayne Duvel of Canton, MA, formerly of Waukon, died February 3, 2021. A memorial service will be held in Canton, MA at a later date and interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery.

John was born August 28, 1957 to Duane and Shirley (Hanke) Duvel in Waukon. He was baptized and confirmed at Salem United Church of Christ in rural Waukon. He attended Waukon schools and graduated in 1975. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and served for over 12 years.

He was an honor graduate of the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, in Monterey, CA.

Bernadette M. Whalen, 96, of Waukon died Friday, February 19, 2021 at Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services were held Monday, February 22 at St. Mary’s Lycurgus Catholic Church in rural Waukon with Fr. John Moser officiating. Burial was at the church cemetery.

Bernadette Margaret Whalen was born December 22, 1924 in rural Dorchester, the daughter of James and Nora (Griffin) Larkin. The weather was too cold for the doctor from New Albin to come so her father had to get their neighbor, Bridget McLaughlin, to deliver her at home.

She was baptized and had first communion at St. Mary’s Church in Dorchester.

Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon is still continuing to require the use of masks, even following the recent updated Governor proclamation. Anyone who is coming to the hospital for any type of service will be asked to continue to wear a mask during their visit. Social distancing and excellent hand hygiene will be continued as well, all in an effort to continue to reduce the spread of COVID-19 on the hospital’s campus and in the area communities served by the hospital.

Veterans Memorial Hospital did recently make an adjustment to its visitor policy, increasing from one visitor per day per inpatient to three visitors per day; however, this adjustment is subject to change at any time. All visitors are asked to check in at the main entrance of the hospital prior to their visit.

The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative alerted Veterans Memorial Hospital of news of COVID-19 scams which they had received from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Scammers are using telemarketing calls, text messages, social media platforms, and door-to-door visits to perpetrate COVID-19-related scams.

Examples shared by the Iowa Healthcare Collaborative included:

Donna and Ernie Lubahn of Waukon will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary February 18.

In honor of the occasion, cards and well wishes may be sent to 208 Fifth Avenue NW, Waukon, IA 52172.

Amber Cole and Kyle Futrell of Spillville announce the birth of their son, Kyler Howard Futrell, born February 6, 2021 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. He weighed 9 lbs. 8 ozs. and measured 22 inches in length at the time of his birth.

Grandparents are Wanda Cole of Spillville, Duane Cole of Castalia and Cindy Muehling of Waverly. Marian Lensing Retterath of Spillville is a great-grandparent.
 

Years ago when I visited with a parishioner he told me that a groundhog was coming onto his deck and eating the food he would set out for his cats. This bothered him so much that he prepared his shotgun; a few days later the groundhog came onto the deck and he shot at it. But he had forgotten to open the glass patio door before firing! Needless to say, the glass in his sliding door had to be replaced.

Removing obstacles (more important than a glass door) is on my mind as the season of Lent begins on Wednesday, February 17. I am thinking of ways to remove one or more of the obstacles in my heart which prevents a deeper relationship with Jesus. I was amazed by a recent national poll; it reported that a majority of US citizens stated they intend to be a different person after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. They want to lead a different life once the coronavirus subsides.

To the Editor:

I am responding to the letters to the editor in The Standard, February 3, 2020 edition.

I am, first and foremost, a believer, that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and God is my King. Secondly, I am a proud American, and a proud Iowan. And I am also one of those “deplorable” Trump loyalists. I love Donald J. Trump and what he has done for America.
President Trump is up for impeachment. What happened to “innocent until proven guilty?” What about Due Process? It was a rush job to get him impeached. Why? Whatever happened to the concept of “agreeing to disagree”? What happened to respect, integrity, unity and love?

What has happened to this country? President Trump went through four years of hate, judgment, scorn, ridicule and plots against him, and he is still standing. Could any of us have withstood that for four years? I know I couldn’t. I pray for his strength and wisdom and protection.

To the Editor:

Addiction is a complicated brain disease. As it progresses, it can change the way an affected person thinks and makes decisions. A person in the throes of a full-blown addiction can’t choose whether they are going to use their drug of choice. No matter what else happens, the addiction always comes first.

Emotional barriers to addiction recovery occur because addiction is a chronic disease. When someone goes to treatment, they don’t emerge from the process magically cured. Instead, the goal of drug and alcohol treatment is to give people the tools they need to learn how to live in recovery one day at a time.

Here are several emotional barriers that get in the way of addiction treatment and/or recovery: