Gene Paul Vetter

The world lost a truly nice guy on December 25th, 2025. Gene Paul Vetter, passed away quietly in hospice care in Woodbury, Minnesota on that day. He was admired, and will be remembered as a decent man who humbly cared for his family, friends, neighbors, employees, clients, and caretakers every day to the best of his ability.

Gene was born in the Lake Park, Iowa home of his parents, Paul and Agnes (Swanson) Vetter on June 6, 1934, according to his mother, a reliable source – not June 5, 1934, the date on his birth certificate, an unreliable source according to his mother.

He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Don, and the only love of his life and wife of 57 years, Bonnie (Louscher). He is survived by his four children: Brad and his wife Cindy of Justin, Texas; Terry and his wife Katherine of Kalama, Washington; Todd and his wife Lana of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Jill and her husband John of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He also was a grandfather to ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

As a young man, Gene delivered the Des Moines Register in Lake Park. He enjoyed giving a local history lesson about his former customers in the Lake Park cemetery when paying respect to his parents. He earned a new bicycle and a train trip to Chicago in that first job. In high school he worked the summer night shift at the ARCO alfalfa dehydrating plant in Lake Park. In the morning he would ride his bike with his co-workers to Pike’s Point on West Okoboji Lake for a morning swim before returning to Lake Park to rest until his next shift. Upon graduating from high school in 1952, Gene attended Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa.

He married Bonnie, on Valentine’s Day, during his sophomore year in 1954. As a student he worked for Thompson and Laird Moving and Storage. The experience set him on a brief career with refrigerated transportation companies; first in Storm Lake, Iowa where all four of his children were born, then on to Council Bluffs, Iowa for two years and finally to Salt Lake City, Utah for two years. Gene returned to Northwest Iowa in 1968 and established Vetter Moving and Storage in Spencer.

The early months were difficult as the phone did not ring at all. He got by with a carriage contract for Rath Meats, warehouse clients and the support of his family. Every family member became an employee of the business learning Gene’s work ethic. He taught the children to fold pads, load and drive trucks and Bonnie taught them how to pack boxes. While in high school, moving furniture paid for the children’s cars and during college breaks it paid for their tuition. Gene stressed being respectful to clients and careful with their belongings. When carrying large items through narrow halls and door jambs Gene reminded his employees that “skin grows back.” He discouraged standing around and preferred to load the more difficult items, even if it was the final piece, by suggesting “let’s get this while we’re fresh.” The anxiety and stress of starting a business eventually gave way to the satisfaction of Gene owning his own building in Spencer and buying the Thompson and Laird moving business in Storm Lake where Gene got his start. He took care of the physical business of moving families while Bonnie pursued her own professional interests on transportation trade boards and politics.

When he retired he saw the world with Bonnie from cruise ships, going on driving tours and attending car races. Reminiscing about the hard times and misadventures of Vetter Moving around a kitchen table laden with Bonnie’s treats until late at night became a fond family holiday tradition. Many of the stories, and characters, became so familiar that in-laws can still retell the tales.

Gene truly had a wonderful life. “Good show.”

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Buena Vista University and Spencer Regional Healthcare Foundation