Hans Christian "Chris" Leu

A funeral service will be held at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, April 12, 2019 in the Runge Mortuary Chapel. Visitation will be held one hour prior to service at the mortuary. He will be laid to rest in Davenport Memorial Park. Memorials can be made to the Buchanan County Health Center in Independence, Iowa. Online condolences may be expressed at www.rungemortuary.com.

Chris was born in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany on May 4, 1923. Schleswig is the farthest northern area of Germany near the border of Denmark. He grew up there with his mother, Anna, and his two half-brothers, Helmut and Gunther. As a young man, he worked in an office in Germany doing bookkeeping and was always excellent with numbers. Chris came to America in 1952 on a cargo transport ship and moved to Buffalo, Iowa where he lived with his aunt for several years before meeting and marrying, Linda Guenther in 1957. In 1958, they welcomed a daughter, Cynthia into the world. Later in 1967, they had a second daughter, Nancy.

He worked at the Davenport Cement Plant for many years before his eventual retirement. The family settled in Davenport in 1969 where they stayed until Chris moved to an apartment in Independence, Iowa to be closer to family.

Chris lived a long and full life and is preceded in death by his wife, Linda in 2014; his brothers; and a great granddaughter Avery who passed in 2015. He is survived by his daughters, Cindy and Nancy; three grandchildren, Heidi (Justin) Flick, Benjamin (Kristina) Ward and Carissa Hanson. Also, he was so happy to see his six living great grandchildren when he could.

Chris was always an industrious man with a strong work ethic. He worked many different shifts at the cement plant and was always found either working or sleeping. He enjoyed yard work and was always very particular about his lawn and plants. He loved writing to family and friends in Germany and getting together with friends on weekends when able. Besides his strong ability with mathematics, he also loved books and reading and helped his children with homework when he could. He always wanted an education to be a priority for his family and enjoyed hearing of their successes in school. In his younger years, Chris was the life of the party with his quick wit and sense of humor. He could dance any German dance he heard, and he always liked a cold beer on a hot summer day. He will be missed and was dearly loved.