Kurt Rathbun

Kurt Rathbun, age 68, of Waterville took his final road trip July 18, 2016. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

Kurt was born June 24, 1948 in Waukon, the fifth of nine children born to Lawrence and Hilma (Moe) Rathbun. Growing up he loved to sneak off to Paint Creek to fish or just play in the water. He would trap in the winters to earn spending money and loved to hunt and fish. Kurt had a keen interest in the way things worked and would take apart items to fix or just to see what made them “tick”.

He attended elementary school in Waterville and high school in Waukon, graduating in 1966. He was a member of the Waterville Lutheran Church. As he grew older he enjoyed working on cars he owned or helping friends with theirs. In 1972 he married Diane Leiran in Champagne, IL and raised two sons.

After graduating from high school he worked in Cedar Rapids for a year before making a career in the Air Force from 1967 until retiring in 1990. Kurt was stationed in Texas, Mississippi, California, Thailand, Washington D.C., Illinois, Washington state, Germany, Utah, Virginia and Alaska.

After retiring, Kurt worked for a time at a car dealership in Fairbanks, AK before moving back to Waterville in 1991. For a short time he worked for Monona Wire, then took a job on the casino boat in Marquette as a manager/dealer in the poker room. He did electrical work with Dave Cota, hauled material and lumber for George Ashbacher, and drove for an Amish construction crew for a number of years.

He was a frequent bidder at auctions and looked for memorabilia from Waterville and the surrounding area to add to his collection. Kurt was an avid poker player, occasionally taking road trips to see family and friends and play poker in other states.

Kurt is survived by his wife of 43 years, Diane; his oldest son, Noel; his daughter, Alexa; his youngest son, Chad, and his wife, Misty, and their two girls, Madison and Megan; his brothers, Lee (Nobuko) of Nevada, James (Sue) of Waterville, and Eric (Angi) of Georgia; a sister, Laurel (Gene) of Waterville; and a sister-in-law, Angie, of Grand Island, NE. He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers; one sister and a nephew.