Arthur Roland Huser

1928 - 2021

Arthur Roland Huser

Sioux City

Arthur Roland Huser, 93, of Sioux City died Friday morning, Nov. 5, 2021, at his residence in Sunrise Retirement Community.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday at Mater Dei Immaculate Conception Church with Father Brad Pelzel, Celebrant. Burial with military honors will be at Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday at the church. Due to the pandemic the family is requesting that those who are attending wear a mask. Arrangements are under the direction of Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel.

Arthur "Art" Huser was born on May 16, 1928, in Sioux City. He was the third of four sons born to John and Sena (Jacobson) Huser. He graduated from East High School in 1946. Soon after graduation, he and his future best man joined the US Forest Service for one summer working in Idaho and Montana. Art joined the Naval Reserve as well shortly after. He started working at Swift & Co. alongside his father as a mechanic from 1948 until the plant closed in 1985, which caused his early retirement at age 57. He was a survivor of the 1949 Swift plant explosion.

Art married the love of his life, Catherine "Kay" M. Fredrickson in June of 1948. They were happily married for 72 years until Kay's death in October of 2020. They raised four children, had 12 grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren. They lived in the same house on Morningside Ave. for these 72 years.

Throughout Art's life he kept busy with big and small projects improving and maintaining his home as well as building bird houses and miniatures, which he and Kay enjoyed doing together. They also shared in the joy and daytime care of their granddaughter Thea (Tay-ya).

Art was a dedicated husband and father with many other interests including family activities and summer vacations, traveling by car coast to coast exploring the country, camping in tents and then later to the 1967 World's Fair in Montreal, Canada, in the family's new pick-up camper. They continued to enjoy camper traveling every summer several years following.

Art and Kay took trips abroad as well, including Yugoslavia (Medugori) and Norway to explore his roots, and Switzerland and Sweden visiting family members. His love of birding took him and his son Bill on migration trips to the southern US and Canada. After retiring, Art rode RAGBRAI for 17 consecutive summers until his last one at age 73. Some family members who also rode recall barely being able to keep up with him, for he rarely changed gears.

Art and Kay were active members of Immaculate Conception Church where they were married. Art dedicated many hours of service by singing in the choir, teaching Catechism as well as many years volunteering weekly as a guide at Queen of Peace. He attended mass daily for many years and visited and drank coffee with friends after early morning services.

He also loved spending time at his cabin in the woods near Stone Park, which he and his friend Don Harbeck, built together by hand. There, he hauled in corn to feed the deer, watched birds at the feeders, wrote in his cabin journal, maintained and built other projects around the cabin or just enjoyed talking to his friend and the peace and quiet. He loved showing the cabin to anyone who was interested and taking them out to enjoy the nature surrounding it. He went there almost every day, year-round for many years. He was also an active member of The Sons of Norway.

He is survived by his children Bill (Jenny) of South Sioux City, Ken (Julie) of Sioux City, Connie Johnson (Kirk) of Sioux City, and Karen Casavant (Tom) of Iowa City, Iowa; grandchildren Dustie, Darcie, Richard, Thea, Erika, Kelsey, Valerie, Joe, Luke, Melanie, Kayla, and Libby; great-grandchildren Morgan, Reagan, Addison, Regie, Brody, Addalyn, MaKenna, Brynn, Isabella, Josephina, Rachel, Natalie, Conner, Jackson, Brigston, Nora, Gilbert, and Ndella.

Art is preceded in death by his wife Kay; granddaughter Leah Johnson; and brothers Albert, Donald, and John.