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RIP to Iowa's iconic bartender, 106-year-old Ray Nauroth of the Gold Slipper
Kyle Munson, [email protected]
Published April 4, 2018
I imagine the supper club in heaven this week is a festive scene where the grasshoppers, pink squirrels and other ice cream drinks flow freely.
That's because Ray Narouth, 106, died Monday in the western Iowa town of Dunlap. He worked there for decades at the Gold Slipper steakhouse and became one of the world's oldest and most beloved bartenders.
He was one of those rural Iowa characters whom I didn’t just meet but marveled at.
“Somebody said you can’t live forever,” said Nauroth's golfing buddy and friend, Mark Brasel, “but, boy, he gave it a try.”
Nauroth was a spry 98 when I first bellied up to the bar at the Gold Slipper, where he poured his first drink in 1966 or '67. He finally fully retired at age 103.
As he approached his centennial, Nauroth still worked four nights a week, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Nick Behrendt was his boss and coaxed his seasoned employee through disruptive change, such as learning to operate a credit card machine.
“It would just amaze me when he would come to work,” Behrendt said. “He was always 15 minutes early.”
Saturday nights, Nauroth, a faithful Catholic who worshiped nine miles away in Woodbine, left mass immediately after communion so he could make it to work on time.
The priest reportedly approved of his parishioner's devotion to his job.
Nauroth's burial mass is Friday at St. Patrick's in Dunlap.
By now I expect that he already has played a few rounds at the Pearly Gates Country Club, where the greens always are immaculate and the caddies are predatory mortgage lenders shipped in from purgatory who are forced to run on foot behind the golf carts.
I can just see Nauroth hitting a hole-in-one as he swaps jokes with Arnold Palmer, Bing Crosby and whomever else he could cajole out of the clubhouse for a round.
In life, Nauroth already hit three holes-in-one within 18 years, his last in 2003 at the tender age of 92.
Brasel, more than a generation younger than Nauroth at 64, first met the man because the bartender's wife, Geraldine, was his fifth-grade teacher. (She died of cancer in 1994.)
When Brasel started his insurance agency in Dunlap, the Gold Slipper — with Nauroth already a fixture behind the bar — was his very first client.
Soon they became best friends, golfing at least twice a week on the local course and taking trips to Arizona and Florida.
Nauroth would toss back beers with his young-pup pals, yet still be the first out of bed the next morning.
He was an early 20th century man not easily enticed by convenience. He also loved to hang his laundry on the clothesline, despite the extra time and hassle.
“They just smell better,” he told Brasel.
Nauroth drove a Buick LeSabre long past the age when many people are content to steer a power wheelchair. He also climbed the stairs to sleep on the second floor of his house, until he finally moved into assisted living.
He loved to talk about the Yankees no matter the season.
He quit smoking when his first of three sons was born.
He wore contacts at one point in his life. But after laser eye surgery he never again needed a pair of glasses.
His only secret to longevity? “Hard work doesn’t kill you,” he told Brasel.
I attended Nauroth’s 100th birthday party in 2011. He shuffled into the Gold Slipper in a blue dress shirt, beige sweater vest, creased khakis and black shoes.
He stood in front of a timeline of his life. A massive timeline!
For most of us the span wouldn’t seem too impressive. But his stretched back before World War I.
Before the Titanic sank.
Before Henry Ford’s assembly line.
Before — crucial for an iconic bartender — Prohibition triggered a criminal mess and was repealed.
And don't forget that Nauroth was born beneath a U.S. flag that had only 46 stars.
The boy reared on a dairy farm returned from World War II on Christmas Day 1945.
He was a soldier stationed in India who also worked construction, hauled garbage and delivered rural mail. He helped collect sales and withholding tax for the state.
He and Geraldine also owned a grill in downtown Dunlap before his stint at the Gold Slipper.
Nauroth remained alert and feisty almost until the end. Brasel chauffeured his friend to the hospital in Missouri Valley last week to have the bandages on his legs replaced.
His skin was so old that it was blistering, his very cells weary with age.
"I suppose it's a pretty dull life,” Nauroth told me eight years ago, the very first year I began writing this column. “But, still, I've done a lot.”
One of the weird things about our relationship to time and aging is that Nauroth could look back on his life and think it dull. Yet you or I as a more objective observer can survey his biography and sense the fullness.
That's one small example of why we need other people in our lives — all the way until 106 in some cases.
Instead of a standard parish dinner, said Nauroth's son, Pat, who lives in Beatrice, Nebraska, the funeral luncheon will be held (where else?) at the Gold Slipper.
“We were privileged to have so much time with our father,” Pat said. “We’re going to miss him, but we know he’s in a better place. And, boy, he had a super life.”
Amen.
Raise a toast (and maybe a 9 iron, once it stops snowing) to the memory of Iowa’s legendary bartender.
Nauroth has more than earned his rest in whatever passes for the Gold Slipper in the great beyond.
---
Fouts Funeral Home
Hwy 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Michael Nauroth
December 9, 1911 - April 2, 2018
ROSARY
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM
FAMILY WILL GREET FRIENDS
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
SCRIPTURE SERVICE
Thursday, April 05 7:30 PM
Fouts Funeral Home
MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL
Friday, April 06 10:30 AM
St. Patrick's Catholic Church
Highway 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Nauroth, 106, died on Monday, April 2nd at the Dunlap Specialty Care. He is survived by three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick Nauroth and his wife Kathy of Beatrice, Nebraska, William Nauroth and his wife Julie of Cave Creek, Arizona; and many other relatives and friends.
Ray Michael Nauroth was born on December 9, 1911, to William and Theresa Ann (Feser) Nauroth near Earling, Iowa. He was raised near Dunlap and attended St. Joseph Catholic School in Dunlap. Ray worked on the family farm for a few years. He was working in Lincoln, Nebraska when the United States military called his name. Ray served overseas for 2½ years during WWII. Ray married Geraldine Manion in August of 1950. Ray worked for the state collecting sales tax, owned and operated the Dunlap Grill, drove a garbage truck in town, carried rural mail for a few years, and bartended at the Gold Slipper. Geraldine died on November 26, 1994.
Ray was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He loved playing baseball when he was a young man and of course golfing too. In 2003 Ray aced the 110-yard No. 7 hole at Dunlap Golf Club to make his third hole-in-one at the age of 92.
Ray died on Monday, April 2, 2018, at the Dunlap Specialty Care at the age of 106 years, three months, and 24 days.
Ray was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Geraldine Nauroth; daughter, Janet Eddy; seven brothers, infant Jerry, Elmer, Frank, Herb, Bill, Howard and Bob Nauroth and three sisters, an infant and Alvina O'Connor and Lee Heffernan. He is survived by his three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick (Kathy) Nauroth of Beatrice, Nebraska, William (Julie) Nauroth of Cave Creek, Arizona; son-in-law, Ken Eddy of Greenfield, Iowa; seven grandchildren; five great grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends.
---
RIP to Iowa's iconic bartender, 106-year-old Ray Nauroth of the Gold Slipper
Kyle Munson, [email protected]
Published April 4, 2018
I imagine the supper club in heaven this week is a festive scene where the grasshoppers, pink squirrels and other ice cream drinks flow freely.
That's because Ray Narouth, 106, died Monday in the western Iowa town of Dunlap. He worked there for decades at the Gold Slipper steakhouse and became one of the world's oldest and most beloved bartenders.
He was one of those rural Iowa characters whom I didn’t just meet but marveled at.
“Somebody said you can’t live forever,” said Nauroth's golfing buddy and friend, Mark Brasel, “but, boy, he gave it a try.”
Nauroth was a spry 98 when I first bellied up to the bar at the Gold Slipper, where he poured his first drink in 1966 or '67. He finally fully retired at age 103.
As he approached his centennial, Nauroth still worked four nights a week, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Nick Behrendt was his boss and coaxed his seasoned employee through disruptive change, such as learning to operate a credit card machine.
“It would just amaze me when he would come to work,” Behrendt said. “He was always 15 minutes early.”
Saturday nights, Nauroth, a faithful Catholic who worshiped nine miles away in Woodbine, left mass immediately after communion so he could make it to work on time.
The priest reportedly approved of his parishioner's devotion to his job.
Nauroth's burial mass is Friday at St. Patrick's in Dunlap.
By now I expect that he already has played a few rounds at the Pearly Gates Country Club, where the greens always are immaculate and the caddies are predatory mortgage lenders shipped in from purgatory who are forced to run on foot behind the golf carts.
I can just see Nauroth hitting a hole-in-one as he swaps jokes with Arnold Palmer, Bing Crosby and whomever else he could cajole out of the clubhouse for a round.
In life, Nauroth already hit three holes-in-one within 18 years, his last in 2003 at the tender age of 92.
Brasel, more than a generation younger than Nauroth at 64, first met the man because the bartender's wife, Geraldine, was his fifth-grade teacher. (She died of cancer in 1994.)
When Brasel started his insurance agency in Dunlap, the Gold Slipper — with Nauroth already a fixture behind the bar — was his very first client.
Soon they became best friends, golfing at least twice a week on the local course and taking trips to Arizona and Florida.
Nauroth would toss back beers with his young-pup pals, yet still be the first out of bed the next morning.
He was an early 20th century man not easily enticed by convenience. He also loved to hang his laundry on the clothesline, despite the extra time and hassle.
“They just smell better,” he told Brasel.
Nauroth drove a Buick LeSabre long past the age when many people are content to steer a power wheelchair. He also climbed the stairs to sleep on the second floor of his house, until he finally moved into assisted living.
He loved to talk about the Yankees no matter the season.
He quit smoking when his first of three sons was born.
He wore contacts at one point in his life. But after laser eye surgery he never again needed a pair of glasses.
His only secret to longevity? “Hard work doesn’t kill you,” he told Brasel.
I attended Nauroth’s 100th birthday party in 2011. He shuffled into the Gold Slipper in a blue dress shirt, beige sweater vest, creased khakis and black shoes.
He stood in front of a timeline of his life. A massive timeline!
For most of us the span wouldn’t seem too impressive. But his stretched back before World War I.
Before the Titanic sank.
Before Henry Ford’s assembly line.
Before — crucial for an iconic bartender — Prohibition triggered a criminal mess and was repealed.
And don't forget that Nauroth was born beneath a U.S. flag that had only 46 stars.
The boy reared on a dairy farm returned from World War II on Christmas Day 1945.
He was a soldier stationed in India who also worked construction, hauled garbage and delivered rural mail. He helped collect sales and withholding tax for the state.
He and Geraldine also owned a grill in downtown Dunlap before his stint at the Gold Slipper.
Nauroth remained alert and feisty almost until the end. Brasel chauffeured his friend to the hospital in Missouri Valley last week to have the bandages on his legs replaced.
His skin was so old that it was blistering, his very cells weary with age.
"I suppose it's a pretty dull life,” Nauroth told me eight years ago, the very first year I began writing this column. “But, still, I've done a lot.”
One of the weird things about our relationship to time and aging is that Nauroth could look back on his life and think it dull. Yet you or I as a more objective observer can survey his biography and sense the fullness.
That's one small example of why we need other people in our lives — all the way until 106 in some cases.
Instead of a standard parish dinner, said Nauroth's son, Pat, who lives in Beatrice, Nebraska, the funeral luncheon will be held (where else?) at the Gold Slipper.
“We were privileged to have so much time with our father,” Pat said. “We’re going to miss him, but we know he’s in a better place. And, boy, he had a super life.”
Amen.
Raise a toast (and maybe a 9 iron, once it stops snowing) to the memory of Iowa’s legendary bartender.
Nauroth has more than earned his rest in whatever passes for the Gold Slipper in the great beyond.
---
Fouts Funeral Home
Hwy 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Michael Nauroth
December 9, 1911 - April 2, 2018
ROSARY
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM
FAMILY WILL GREET FRIENDS
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
SCRIPTURE SERVICE
Thursday, April 05 7:30 PM
Fouts Funeral Home
MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL
Friday, April 06 10:30 AM
St. Patrick's Catholic Church
Highway 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Nauroth, 106, died on Monday, April 2nd at the Dunlap Specialty Care. He is survived by three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick Nauroth and his wife Kathy of Beatrice, Nebraska, William Nauroth and his wife Julie of Cave Creek, Arizona; and many other relatives and friends.
Ray Michael Nauroth was born on December 9, 1911, to William and Theresa Ann (Feser) Nauroth near Earling, Iowa. He was raised near Dunlap and attended St. Joseph Catholic School in Dunlap. Ray worked on the family farm for a few years. He was working in Lincoln, Nebraska when the United States military called his name. Ray served overseas for 2½ years during WWII. Ray married Geraldine Manion in August of 1950. Ray worked for the state collecting sales tax, owned and operated the Dunlap Grill, drove a garbage truck in town, carried rural mail for a few years, and bartended at the Gold Slipper. Geraldine died on November 26, 1994.
Ray was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He loved playing baseball when he was a young man and of course golfing too. In 2003 Ray aced the 110-yard No. 7 hole at Dunlap Golf Club to make his third hole-in-one at the age of 92.
Ray died on Monday, April 2, 2018, at the Dunlap Specialty Care at the age of 106 years, three months, and 24 days.
Ray was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Geraldine Nauroth; daughter, Janet Eddy; seven brothers, infant Jerry, Elmer, Frank, Herb, Bill, Howard and Bob Nauroth and three sisters, an infant and Alvina O'Connor and Lee Heffernan. He is survived by his three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick (Kathy) Nauroth of Beatrice, Nebraska, William (Julie) Nauroth of Cave Creek, Arizona; son-in-law, Ken Eddy of Greenfield, Iowa; seven grandchildren; five great grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends.
---
---
RIP to Iowa's iconic bartender, 106-year-old Ray Nauroth of the Gold Slipper
Kyle Munson, [email protected]
Published April 4, 2018
I imagine the supper club in heaven this week is a festive scene where the grasshoppers, pink squirrels and other ice cream drinks flow freely.
That's because Ray Narouth, 106, died Monday in the western Iowa town of Dunlap. He worked there for decades at the Gold Slipper steakhouse and became one of the world's oldest and most beloved bartenders.
He was one of those rural Iowa characters whom I didn’t just meet but marveled at.
“Somebody said you can’t live forever,” said Nauroth's golfing buddy and friend, Mark Brasel, “but, boy, he gave it a try.”
Nauroth was a spry 98 when I first bellied up to the bar at the Gold Slipper, where he poured his first drink in 1966 or '67. He finally fully retired at age 103.
As he approached his centennial, Nauroth still worked four nights a week, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Nick Behrendt was his boss and coaxed his seasoned employee through disruptive change, such as learning to operate a credit card machine.
“It would just amaze me when he would come to work,” Behrendt said. “He was always 15 minutes early.”
Saturday nights, Nauroth, a faithful Catholic who worshiped nine miles away in Woodbine, left mass immediately after communion so he could make it to work on time.
The priest reportedly approved of his parishioner's devotion to his job.
Nauroth's burial mass is Friday at St. Patrick's in Dunlap.
By now I expect that he already has played a few rounds at the Pearly Gates Country Club, where the greens always are immaculate and the caddies are predatory mortgage lenders shipped in from purgatory who are forced to run on foot behind the golf carts.
I can just see Nauroth hitting a hole-in-one as he swaps jokes with Arnold Palmer, Bing Crosby and whomever else he could cajole out of the clubhouse for a round.
In life, Nauroth already hit three holes-in-one within 18 years, his last in 2003 at the tender age of 92.
Brasel, more than a generation younger than Nauroth at 64, first met the man because the bartender's wife, Geraldine, was his fifth-grade teacher. (She died of cancer in 1994.)
When Brasel started his insurance agency in Dunlap, the Gold Slipper — with Nauroth already a fixture behind the bar — was his very first client.
Soon they became best friends, golfing at least twice a week on the local course and taking trips to Arizona and Florida.
Nauroth would toss back beers with his young-pup pals, yet still be the first out of bed the next morning.
He was an early 20th century man not easily enticed by convenience. He also loved to hang his laundry on the clothesline, despite the extra time and hassle.
“They just smell better,” he told Brasel.
Nauroth drove a Buick LeSabre long past the age when many people are content to steer a power wheelchair. He also climbed the stairs to sleep on the second floor of his house, until he finally moved into assisted living.
He loved to talk about the Yankees no matter the season.
He quit smoking when his first of three sons was born.
He wore contacts at one point in his life. But after laser eye surgery he never again needed a pair of glasses.
His only secret to longevity? “Hard work doesn’t kill you,” he told Brasel.
I attended Nauroth’s 100th birthday party in 2011. He shuffled into the Gold Slipper in a blue dress shirt, beige sweater vest, creased khakis and black shoes.
He stood in front of a timeline of his life. A massive timeline!
For most of us the span wouldn’t seem too impressive. But his stretched back before World War I.
Before the Titanic sank.
Before Henry Ford’s assembly line.
Before — crucial for an iconic bartender — Prohibition triggered a criminal mess and was repealed.
And don't forget that Nauroth was born beneath a U.S. flag that had only 46 stars.
The boy reared on a dairy farm returned from World War II on Christmas Day 1945.
He was a soldier stationed in India who also worked construction, hauled garbage and delivered rural mail. He helped collect sales and withholding tax for the state.
He and Geraldine also owned a grill in downtown Dunlap before his stint at the Gold Slipper.
Nauroth remained alert and feisty almost until the end. Brasel chauffeured his friend to the hospital in Missouri Valley last week to have the bandages on his legs replaced.
His skin was so old that it was blistering, his very cells weary with age.
"I suppose it's a pretty dull life,” Nauroth told me eight years ago, the very first year I began writing this column. “But, still, I've done a lot.”
One of the weird things about our relationship to time and aging is that Nauroth could look back on his life and think it dull. Yet you or I as a more objective observer can survey his biography and sense the fullness.
That's one small example of why we need other people in our lives — all the way until 106 in some cases.
Instead of a standard parish dinner, said Nauroth's son, Pat, who lives in Beatrice, Nebraska, the funeral luncheon will be held (where else?) at the Gold Slipper.
“We were privileged to have so much time with our father,” Pat said. “We’re going to miss him, but we know he’s in a better place. And, boy, he had a super life.”
Amen.
Raise a toast (and maybe a 9 iron, once it stops snowing) to the memory of Iowa’s legendary bartender.
Nauroth has more than earned his rest in whatever passes for the Gold Slipper in the great beyond.
---
Fouts Funeral Home
Hwy 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Michael Nauroth
December 9, 1911 - April 2, 2018
ROSARY
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM
FAMILY WILL GREET FRIENDS
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
SCRIPTURE SERVICE
Thursday, April 05 7:30 PM
Fouts Funeral Home
MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL
Friday, April 06 10:30 AM
St. Patrick's Catholic Church
Highway 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Nauroth, 106, died on Monday, April 2nd at the Dunlap Specialty Care. He is survived by three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick Nauroth and his wife Kathy of Beatrice, Nebraska, William Nauroth and his wife Julie of Cave Creek, Arizona; and many other relatives and friends.
Ray Michael Nauroth was born on December 9, 1911, to William and Theresa Ann (Feser) Nauroth near Earling, Iowa. He was raised near Dunlap and attended St. Joseph Catholic School in Dunlap. Ray worked on the family farm for a few years. He was working in Lincoln, Nebraska when the United States military called his name. Ray served overseas for 2½ years during WWII. Ray married Geraldine Manion in August of 1950. Ray worked for the state collecting sales tax, owned and operated the Dunlap Grill, drove a garbage truck in town, carried rural mail for a few years, and bartended at the Gold Slipper. Geraldine died on November 26, 1994.
Ray was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He loved playing baseball when he was a young man and of course golfing too. In 2003 Ray aced the 110-yard No. 7 hole at Dunlap Golf Club to make his third hole-in-one at the age of 92.
Ray died on Monday, April 2, 2018, at the Dunlap Specialty Care at the age of 106 years, three months, and 24 days.
Ray was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Geraldine Nauroth; daughter, Janet Eddy; seven brothers, infant Jerry, Elmer, Frank, Herb, Bill, Howard and Bob Nauroth and three sisters, an infant and Alvina O'Connor and Lee Heffernan. He is survived by his three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick (Kathy) Nauroth of Beatrice, Nebraska, William (Julie) Nauroth of Cave Creek, Arizona; son-in-law, Ken Eddy of Greenfield, Iowa; seven grandchildren; five great grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends.
---
RIP to Iowa's iconic bartender, 106-year-old Ray Nauroth of the Gold Slipper
Kyle Munson, [email protected]
Published April 4, 2018
I imagine the supper club in heaven this week is a festive scene where the grasshoppers, pink squirrels and other ice cream drinks flow freely.
That's because Ray Narouth, 106, died Monday in the western Iowa town of Dunlap. He worked there for decades at the Gold Slipper steakhouse and became one of the world's oldest and most beloved bartenders.
He was one of those rural Iowa characters whom I didn’t just meet but marveled at.
“Somebody said you can’t live forever,” said Nauroth's golfing buddy and friend, Mark Brasel, “but, boy, he gave it a try.”
Nauroth was a spry 98 when I first bellied up to the bar at the Gold Slipper, where he poured his first drink in 1966 or '67. He finally fully retired at age 103.
As he approached his centennial, Nauroth still worked four nights a week, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Nick Behrendt was his boss and coaxed his seasoned employee through disruptive change, such as learning to operate a credit card machine.
“It would just amaze me when he would come to work,” Behrendt said. “He was always 15 minutes early.”
Saturday nights, Nauroth, a faithful Catholic who worshiped nine miles away in Woodbine, left mass immediately after communion so he could make it to work on time.
The priest reportedly approved of his parishioner's devotion to his job.
Nauroth's burial mass is Friday at St. Patrick's in Dunlap.
By now I expect that he already has played a few rounds at the Pearly Gates Country Club, where the greens always are immaculate and the caddies are predatory mortgage lenders shipped in from purgatory who are forced to run on foot behind the golf carts.
I can just see Nauroth hitting a hole-in-one as he swaps jokes with Arnold Palmer, Bing Crosby and whomever else he could cajole out of the clubhouse for a round.
In life, Nauroth already hit three holes-in-one within 18 years, his last in 2003 at the tender age of 92.
Brasel, more than a generation younger than Nauroth at 64, first met the man because the bartender's wife, Geraldine, was his fifth-grade teacher. (She died of cancer in 1994.)
When Brasel started his insurance agency in Dunlap, the Gold Slipper — with Nauroth already a fixture behind the bar — was his very first client.
Soon they became best friends, golfing at least twice a week on the local course and taking trips to Arizona and Florida.
Nauroth would toss back beers with his young-pup pals, yet still be the first out of bed the next morning.
He was an early 20th century man not easily enticed by convenience. He also loved to hang his laundry on the clothesline, despite the extra time and hassle.
“They just smell better,” he told Brasel.
Nauroth drove a Buick LeSabre long past the age when many people are content to steer a power wheelchair. He also climbed the stairs to sleep on the second floor of his house, until he finally moved into assisted living.
He loved to talk about the Yankees no matter the season.
He quit smoking when his first of three sons was born.
He wore contacts at one point in his life. But after laser eye surgery he never again needed a pair of glasses.
His only secret to longevity? “Hard work doesn’t kill you,” he told Brasel.
I attended Nauroth’s 100th birthday party in 2011. He shuffled into the Gold Slipper in a blue dress shirt, beige sweater vest, creased khakis and black shoes.
He stood in front of a timeline of his life. A massive timeline!
For most of us the span wouldn’t seem too impressive. But his stretched back before World War I.
Before the Titanic sank.
Before Henry Ford’s assembly line.
Before — crucial for an iconic bartender — Prohibition triggered a criminal mess and was repealed.
And don't forget that Nauroth was born beneath a U.S. flag that had only 46 stars.
The boy reared on a dairy farm returned from World War II on Christmas Day 1945.
He was a soldier stationed in India who also worked construction, hauled garbage and delivered rural mail. He helped collect sales and withholding tax for the state.
He and Geraldine also owned a grill in downtown Dunlap before his stint at the Gold Slipper.
Nauroth remained alert and feisty almost until the end. Brasel chauffeured his friend to the hospital in Missouri Valley last week to have the bandages on his legs replaced.
His skin was so old that it was blistering, his very cells weary with age.
"I suppose it's a pretty dull life,” Nauroth told me eight years ago, the very first year I began writing this column. “But, still, I've done a lot.”
One of the weird things about our relationship to time and aging is that Nauroth could look back on his life and think it dull. Yet you or I as a more objective observer can survey his biography and sense the fullness.
That's one small example of why we need other people in our lives — all the way until 106 in some cases.
Instead of a standard parish dinner, said Nauroth's son, Pat, who lives in Beatrice, Nebraska, the funeral luncheon will be held (where else?) at the Gold Slipper.
“We were privileged to have so much time with our father,” Pat said. “We’re going to miss him, but we know he’s in a better place. And, boy, he had a super life.”
Amen.
Raise a toast (and maybe a 9 iron, once it stops snowing) to the memory of Iowa’s legendary bartender.
Nauroth has more than earned his rest in whatever passes for the Gold Slipper in the great beyond.
---
Fouts Funeral Home
Hwy 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Michael Nauroth
December 9, 1911 - April 2, 2018
ROSARY
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM
FAMILY WILL GREET FRIENDS
Thursday, April 05 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
SCRIPTURE SERVICE
Thursday, April 05 7:30 PM
Fouts Funeral Home
MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL
Friday, April 06 10:30 AM
St. Patrick's Catholic Church
Highway 30 & Court Streets
Dunlap, IA 51529
Ray Nauroth, 106, died on Monday, April 2nd at the Dunlap Specialty Care. He is survived by three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick Nauroth and his wife Kathy of Beatrice, Nebraska, William Nauroth and his wife Julie of Cave Creek, Arizona; and many other relatives and friends.
Ray Michael Nauroth was born on December 9, 1911, to William and Theresa Ann (Feser) Nauroth near Earling, Iowa. He was raised near Dunlap and attended St. Joseph Catholic School in Dunlap. Ray worked on the family farm for a few years. He was working in Lincoln, Nebraska when the United States military called his name. Ray served overseas for 2½ years during WWII. Ray married Geraldine Manion in August of 1950. Ray worked for the state collecting sales tax, owned and operated the Dunlap Grill, drove a garbage truck in town, carried rural mail for a few years, and bartended at the Gold Slipper. Geraldine died on November 26, 1994.
Ray was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. He loved playing baseball when he was a young man and of course golfing too. In 2003 Ray aced the 110-yard No. 7 hole at Dunlap Golf Club to make his third hole-in-one at the age of 92.
Ray died on Monday, April 2, 2018, at the Dunlap Specialty Care at the age of 106 years, three months, and 24 days.
Ray was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Geraldine Nauroth; daughter, Janet Eddy; seven brothers, infant Jerry, Elmer, Frank, Herb, Bill, Howard and Bob Nauroth and three sisters, an infant and Alvina O'Connor and Lee Heffernan. He is survived by his three sons, Michael Nauroth of Scottsdale, Arizona, Patrick (Kathy) Nauroth of Beatrice, Nebraska, William (Julie) Nauroth of Cave Creek, Arizona; son-in-law, Ken Eddy of Greenfield, Iowa; seven grandchildren; five great grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends.
---
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