Milton Hocking

Rock Rapids Milton "Bud" Hocking age 81 of Rock Rapids, died October 5, 2007 at the Merrill Pioneer Hospital in Rock Rapids. Funeral Services are 1:30, Tuesday, October 9, at the Christian Reformed Church in Rock Rapids, with Rev. Dan Haggar officiating. Burial will follow at the Riverview Cemetery in Rock Rapids, IA. Visitation will be Monday, October 8, from 2-8 PM with the family present from 6-8 PM, at the Roste Funeral Home of Rock Rapids. Milton W. Bud Hocking was born on September 27, 1926 in Ellsworth, MN to Rose (Bush) and Robert Hocking. He graduated from Ellsworth High School. Following graduation, he enlisted in the Navy for the final two years of WWII. Following the war, he spent the next two summers doing construction work in Alaska. He worked for several years as a fireman on the Rock Island Railroad. Bud married Ruth Kroon on April 8, 1954. Soon after he began working for the U.S. Postal Service as a city mail carrier in Rock Rapids. Bud retired from the USPS in October 1986 after 29 years. For the next several years, Bud and his wife spent several months of each winter in Texas. They spent each summer since 1986 at their cabin on Little Turtle Lake in Talmoon, MN. They had just returned from Minnesota on October 3rd. Bud leaves behind his wife of 53 years, Ruth; a daughter, Sandra, of Olney, Maryland; a son, Clay, of Menomonie, Wisconsin; two grandsons, Ian and Tyler, of Olney, Maryland; one granddaughter, Hendrene, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin; and one brother, Kenneth Hocking, of Ellsworth, Minnesota. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Darlene. Bud will be remembered for his sense of humor and his love of fishing and other sports.