Bruce Vernon

Bruce Vernon, 71, formerly of Sioux Center, IA died Sunday, June 10, 2012 in Woodstock, IL. A memorial service will be held Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 2PM at the Memorial Funeral Home of Sioux Center with Rev. Van Rathbun officiating. BBruce Vernon died June 10, 2012, at his home in Bull Valley, Illinois, after a struggle with cancer. He was born April 7, 1941 in Sioux Center, Iowa, to Velma Hayward Vernon and Ross Keith Vernon. In Sioux Center his family lived across the alley from the family of his future wife, Carollee DeRuyter Vernon, whom he married June 30, 2006. He attended Sioux Center High School, Northwestern College, the University of Iowa, and Wichita State University where he graduated with a Master of Business Administration degree. He worked in administrative and purchasing positions in hospitals in Chicago, Illinois, and Madison, Wisconsin, before entering the US Air Force in September 1966. He served as a Lieutenant in the Medical Services Corp in Wichita, Kansas, for three years. In 1969, Bruce moved to Chicago and worked for Standard Oil of Indiana, first as an auditor and later in purchasing until 1980 when he worked for and later became a partner in Bulk Lift Company. In 1989, he started his own company, Atlas Bag, which manufactured and sold bulk bags with factories in Illinois, Texas, and Mexico. He sold his company in 1999 and retired to an acreage in Bull Valley, Illinois, where he designed and planted his dream garden on nine acres. In high school, Bruce was an Eagle Scout and a class leader who was known to be kind and friendly to all. In his business life he was greatly respected and known to be a man of his word with a keen understanding of economics and the prospects for the future. He was also a voracious reader, a photographer, and a landscaper. He enjoyed summer weeks at the family lake cottage in Minnesota. Bruce is survived by his wife, Carollee; his sister and brother-in-law, Jane and George Korver of Marshall, MN, Bruce's four nieces and nephews, Kim and Scott Rasmussen of Tucson, AZ, Vince and Kim Korver of Marshall, MN, Cheryl Weibers of Scottsdale, AZ and Keith and Heidi Korver of Marshall, MN, and their eight children, Bruce is also survived by Carollee's two children: Mark and Lisa Balloun of Atlanta, GA and Jill and Bo Webb of Wilmington, NC and her four grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents Velma and Ross Vernon.