Irvin Vincent (Irv) Case, the proud and loving father of three children, Irvin Vincent (Vince) Case, Jr., Barbara Susan Case King and James L. Case, the grandfather of six children and the great-grandfather of two, passed away on Wednesday, February 18, 2015.

Irv Case was born August 4, 1927 in Doniphan County (Atchison), Kansas, the youngest of five children. He is predeceased by his parents John N. Case, Sr. and Mary Grace(Willmeth) Case, his two brothers, Louis and John Case, his two sisters, Mildred (Toney) and Mary Helen (Mastin), and his wife, Annette.

Irv Case was a jack of all trades and a master of many. He worked long and hard hours with his family on the Case family farm until his graduation from high school. At only 17 years old, he joined the U.S. Navy to serve his country in World War II where he served aboard the USS Mugford, a Bagley-class destroyer.

After his honorable discharge in July, 1946 he returned to Atchison to work and begin a higher education at St. Benedict’s College. He met Annette Marie Gasperetti while she was attending college in Atchison at Mount St. Scholastica College for women. This was the beginning of a lifelong love and partnership, and they were married in Walsenburg, Colorado, on June 7, 1948.
Irv and Annette lived in Walsenburg, Colorado for several years after their marriage, while Irv worked various jobs, including air conditioner and refrigeration repair, gas station attendant and mechanic, and truck driver/freight delivery. With three small children, Irv and Annette moved to Ft. Collins, Colorado in 1955 so Irv could study at Colorado State University. Irv became a full-time student, while working full night shifts assembling electric motors to support his family. After four relentless years of working and studying, he graduated from CSU with a bachelor’s degree in forestry.


His dedication to the U.S. Forest Service for the next 25 years was remarkable and distinguished. His career with the US Forest Service, began in Northern California where he and his family lived a summer in a tent. Throughout his career he served in several locations, starting in Hill City, SD and other ranger districts in the Black Hills, including the supervisor’s office in Custer. Irv was named district ranger of the Medicine Bow National Forest in Douglas, WY in 1968, and returned to South Dakota in 1972 as the district ranger in the Black Hills National Forest in Deadwood. He later was promoted and worked in the supervisor’s office in Delta, CO, from where he retired on September 30, 1983, coincidentally the birthdate of his first grandchild.

During his career, Irv managed timber sales, built forest roads and trails and battled forest fires both on the fire line and as chief fire manager. Irv knew the forest and the woods. He walked, drove four wheel drive trucks or rode horses over vast areas of forest lands during his career as a U.S. Forester. One of his many fond memories was riding his horse in the Medicine Bow National Forest for several weeks each fall, checking on range, timber, fences and gates, forest trails and boundary markers.
After his retirement, Irv and Annette continued to reside in Olathe, CO where they had a small farm and grew a bountiful garden of flowers and vegetables. The heart and soul of the Irv Case family was shattered when Annette died of cancer on January 30, 1984. Irv stayed in Olathe for two more years before relocating to Douglas, WY the home of his oldest son, Vince.

Irv used Douglas as his home base for several years while doing summer volunteer work in the Chugach National Forest, Moose Pass, Alaska for several years. He then moved to Lake Havasu City, AZ where he resided for many years, enjoying his independence and the warm weather, until health issues required him to move to Grand Junction, CO the home of his daughter, Barbara. Further health issues caused him to relocate to Dakota Dunes, SD the home of his youngest son, Jim, where Irv lived until his death.
Irv enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping and back packing, especially with his sons, and he was an expert fly fisherman. Irv could build, fix and repair almost anything and his list of talents and abilities was impressive. He built furniture, garages, home additions, remodeled kitchens and bathrooms and was a natural at landscaping, reciting the scientific name of every plant going into the ground. He did plumbing and electrical work and repaired washers, dryers, gas engines and electric motors.

He enjoyed traditional country music, such as Hank Williams, George Jones and Johnny Cash, and knew his way around a square dancing floor. Irv was a fan of pie but said there were only two kinds he liked, “hot pie and cold pie.” He was also a lifetime devotee to chocolate malts, peanuts, and ice cream, remarking that “the only thing better than ice cream is more ice cream.” He had a quick sense of humor and an endless supply of witticisms and stories, as well as funny and philosophical statements, rhymes and lyrics.
Irv was strong willed and staunchly independent, but he and his family always knew of their love for one another. He will forever be remembered, loved and missed.

Memorial's maybe directed in Irvin's name to Hospice of Siouxland.