Vernon F. Stork
   MASON CITY Vernon F. Stork, 83, of 511 River Bend Court, died Thursday (March 22, 2007) at Rio Grande Regional Hospital in McAllen, Texas.
   A memorial Mass will be held 10 a.m. Friday, March 30, at Holy Family Catholic Church, 714 N. Adams Ave., with the Rev. Jon Seda officiating.
   There will be no visitation; upon his wishes his body will be cremated. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the American Heart Association or the Hospice of North Iowa.
   Vern was born on Aug. 15, 1923, in Breda, Iowa, to Frank and Minnie (Tiefen-Thaler) Stork. He attended and graduated from St. Bernard's High School in Breda. After graduation he attended Creighton University for two years until he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Vern served in World War II in the European Theatre as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne unit. While in the service he was awarded four Bronze Stars and one Purple Heart for his service. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1945.
   Vern married Rita Schiltz on Oct. 9, 1945, at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Carroll. After his return from the Army he started his career in the banking business, working for many small town banks in Iowa. He worked for the Federal Intermediate Credit Bank in Omaha, and then moved to Mason City, where he worked for Production Credit Association until retiring as the CEO.
   Vern enjoyed fishing, golfing and the time he spent with his family. He was a member of the Elks Lodge, Lions, and long-time member of Holy Family Catholic Church.
   Vern is survived by his wife, Rita, of Mason City; children Steve (Patrice) Stork of Pasadena, Calif., Mary (Joe) Cuseo, of Los Alamitos, Calif., Mike Stork of Long Beach, Calif., and Dave (Holly) Stork, of Klamath Falls, Ore.; sister, Emma Dirks, of Storm Lake; 10 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Suzan Graf.
   Arrangements are with Major Erickson Funeral Home & Crematory, (641) 423-0924. www.majorerick-sonfuneralhome.com

[Globe-Gazette, Mason City, IA, 29 Mar 2007, Thu, Page 8]

Vernon F. Stork enlisted in the Army on December 10, 1942 and volunteered for parachutist duty.

Pvt Stork was transferred from Hq, The Parachute School to Company A, 508th PIR on 7 October 1943.

He was promoted to Pfc less than 7 months later and on 1 August 1944, he was promoted to the grade of T/5 following his combat duty in Normandy.

T/5 Stork was wounded in action in Holland on 18 September 1944 and evacuated.  He was able to rejoin the company on 25 October and was transferred to service Company for light duty.

He was back on duty with Company A when the Bulge call-up occurred on 18 December 1944.  On Christmas Eve he was taken prisoner and sat out the rest of the war.  Following his liberation and return to good health, he was discharged on 22 October 1945.