Gene Ostmo

1932 - 2025

Gene Ostmo

June 23, 1932 - October 10, 2025

MASON CITY: Gene Ostmo peacefully passed away October 10, 2025, at the Good Samaritan Society in Forest City. He was 93-years old. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday, October 16, 2025, at Trinity Lutheran Church, 213 N Pennsylvania Ave. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service time. Burial will be held in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Gene was born on a farm near Sharon, N.D. on June 23, 1932, to Irene (Johnson) and Oscar Ostmo. His family moved to Iowa, where he grew up assisting his father with livestock and crops on a farm outside Joice. He started his education walking down an unpaved road to a one room country school. Gene graduated from Lake Mills High School May 25, 1950. He briefly attended Waldorf College in Forest City before enlisting in the Army on December 10, 1952.

Gene received basic training at Camp San Luis Obispo in California. His service in the Army provided him the opportunity to see the world and he took every advantage. While stationed at White Sands, New Mexico, he borrowed a jeep and drove to the Trinity Site to see the place where the Atomic Bomb was tested only eight years earlier. His next assignment was Yokohama, Japan, where learned Japanese and climbed to the top of Mount Fuji. After two years of active duty, he returned to Iowa.

His future wife, Charlene Evans was also from Joice. They attended different schools and didn't really know each other. They met on a blind date when Gene was a last-minute substitute for a friend. Gene and Charlene were married June 19, 1955. They honeymooned in the Ozarks. The wedded couple settled down in Mason City and raised four children.

Gene was playful and adventurous. He learned the piano by ear and enjoyed entertaining anytime he found a keyboard and an audience. In 1968 he earned a private pilot license and loved to fly cross-country trips. He gave numerous children their first opportunity to fly.

Ostmo joined the Army Reserve and rose to the rank of Command Sargent Major. His two weeks of annual active duty were typically spent at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin. On three different occasions Gene deployed to Europe to participate in NATO exercises. He retired from the military in 1992 after 39-years, six-months, and 13-days of service.

In his civilian life, Gene worked in the Engineering Department of Interstate Power. He started at the Mason City power plant in 1955 before he was transferred to the 2nd Street office. During power outages Gene would report for work to answer phones and dispatch line crews. His most memorable event was the 1991 Halloween Blizzard which hit the city with two inches of ice and 12 inches of snow. Over 6,000 customers were without power. Multiple crews were brought in from out of state to rebuild the North Iowa electric grid over a two-week period. He retired from Interstate in 1993.

Charlene was the love of his life. The couple celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last June. They enjoyed traveling together and made numerous trips overseas. Their first visit to Europe was a three-week tour of Norway to see the homeland of their ancestors. They also traveled to England, France, Germany, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Austria. They were in London when the Iron Curtain fell. They also enjoyed countless road trips to see their children and grandchildren.

Gene is survived by his wife, Charlene of Clear Lake; four children, Kenneth and his wife, Kay (Cannon) of Tulsa, Okla.; David and his wife, Bev (Cannon) of San Antonio, Texas; Carolyn (Ostmo) Holcomb and her husband, Todd of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Kevin and his wife Melanie (Marolf) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; along with six grandchildren; one sister, Joanne Bartleson of Forest City; and one brother, James of Mason City. He was preceded in death by his parents, Irene and Oscar.

Major Erickson Funeral Home

111 N Pennsylvania Ave

Mason City, IA 50401

641-423-0924