Gary Joseph "Joe" La Follette
October 2, 1950 - April 16, 2022
Gary Joseph “Joe” La Follette, age 71, of Columbia, Iowa, passed away on Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Pella Comfort House in Pella, Iowa. Visitation for Joe will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2022, at Celebrate Community Church in Knoxville from 4:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. Joe’s family will be present to greet friends and relatives from 5:30 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. A Celebration of Life will take place on Friday, April 22, 2022, at 10:30 A.M. at Celebrate Community Church. Following service, a luncheon will be held at the church. Joe was born on October 2, 1950, in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Leroy and Edna (Tresslar) La Follette. He graduated from Oskaloosa High School. During high school, Joe started driving a truck and continued that for several years. Joe later moved to the Ozarks, working on, and building house boats. He then moved to San Francisco and worked as a Port Engineer for one year. Following that, Joe moved back to Missouri and drove a truck for TMC before moving to Iowa. Joe was united in marriage to Martha Mertz on May 30, 1998, in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. They were blessed with 23 years of marriage before his passing. Joe was a man of many talents, including restoring and rebuilding cars, and anything mechanical. His family describes him as a “MacGyver”, (someone who could make just about anything out of almost nothing.) Joe is survived by his wife, Martha Mertz-La Follette; children, Kelly (Julie) La Follette and Joe (Susie) VanWeelden; brothers, Pat La Follette and Jeff (Jill) Ferguson; two grandchildren, Austin (Chelsie) La Follette and Sage La Follette (Jada West) ; and three great-grandchildren, Camden, Azlan, and Aspen. Joe is preceded in death by his mother, Edna Ferguson; and grandson, Caleb La Follette. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given in Joe’s memory to Pella Comfort House.
Gary Joseph “Joe” La Follette, age 71, of Columbia, Iowa, passed away on Saturday, April 16, 2022, at Pella Comfort House in Pella, Iowa. Visitation for Joe will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2022, at Celebrate Community... View Obituary & Service Information