Charles Ardinger, 80

July 7, 1942 —

Jan. 3, 2023

 

HESPER - Charles Edward Ardinger, age 80, passed away on Jan. 3, 2023, after a brief hospital stay at Gundersen Hospital in LaCrosse, Wis.

Funeral service will be at 11 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023 at the Hesper Lutheran Church in Hesper, Iowa, with Pastor Dave Werges officiating. Visitation will be from 4-6 p.m. at the church and one hour prior to services. Burial will be in the Hesper Lutheran Cemetery. The Mengis Funeral Home in Mabel is assisting with arrangements.

Charles was born on July 7, 1942 to Ralph and Clara Ardinger in Norfolk, Va. He graduated from Spring Grove High School in 1960. He then joined the U.S. Navy. On July 2, 1965, he married Georginia Leader in San Francisco, Calif. His various duty stations included Recruit Training, Great Lakes, Ill.; Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Orange, Texas; USS Mattaponi A0 41, San Francisco; CHB Subic Bay, PI, Danang, Vietnam; USS Graffias AF 29, San Francisco; USS Catskill MCS-1, Long Beach; River Assault Squadron 15, Boat Captain of Tango 151-11, Mekong Delta, Vietnam; U.S. Naval Training Center, Hancock, Mich.; U.S. Naval Station, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and Correctional Center, Corpus Christi, Texas. 

In June 1980, he returned to the Mabel area and bought and remodeled his grandmother’s house in Hesper, after retiring from 22 and one-half years from the U.S. Navy.

Charles was a member of the American Legion Color Guard and Memorial Detail. He had worked for Jimmy Brown’s Tree Service and Ardell Peterson. He also maintained the Hesper Lutheran Cemetery and oversaw the Veterans headstones and loved riding his golf cart visiting his Hesper neighborhood and friends. 

Georginia noted she will miss him doing the cooking, washing the clothes, filling the coffee pot with water, shopping for groceries, opening the mail, and wrapping packages to send, to just mention a few things.

Charles was a member of the Hesper Lutheran Church; life member of the American Legion, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Mobile Riverine Force Association, VFW and VVA; and a member of the Fleet Reserve Association, USS Graffias, USS Mattaponi, and Guantanamo Bay Association. 

He was past Commander of the American Legion Post 299 and the VFW Post 5769 in Mabel and past Treasurer and Membership Chairman of the Mobile Riverine Force Association.

Charles is survived by his wife Georginia; son, Charles (Teresa) Ardinger, Jr.; cousin, Rita Anderson; nephews, Doug (Kristy), Brian and Greg, and other nieces and nephews. 

He was preceded in death by his parents Ralph and Clara; grandparents, Julius and Hilda Selness and Nellie Ardinger; and his brother, Ralph (Ingrid) Ardinger; and father and mother-in-law, Russell and Belle Leader.

Fair winds and following seas.