Funeral services for LaVern W. Lutz, age 80, formerly of Albert Lea, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Church of St. Theodore. The Rev. Robert Schneider will officiate. Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery in Austin. Military honors will be accorded by area servicemen’s organizations. Visitation is one hour prior to the services at the church. Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home is assisting with arrangements.

LaVern died Thursday at St. Joseph Health Center in St. Charles, Mo.

LaVern W. Lutz was born Feb. 2, 1922, to Walter Edward and Eileen Barbara (Kinsley) Lutz in Easton, Minn. He attended Austin schools and graduated from Austin High School. LaVern served in the United States Navy during WWII from 1942-1945. On June 18, 1947, he was united in marriage to Marian Mae Hall in Austin. The couple owned and operated the Roxy Theater in Austin in the late 1940s. LaVern was employed as a lens grinder at Benson Optical in Albert Lea from 1950-1978. He then worked at Wahlman Optical in Austin, retiring in 1981. LaVern was a member of the Church of St. Theodore and the American Legion.

Survivors include a son, David Lutz and his wife Nancy, daughter-in-law, Arlene Jennings and her husband Charles; sisters: Evelyn Ring and Betty Nelson and her husband Harley; brother-in-law, Donald Hall and his wife Phyllis; sister-in-law, Margaret Marquardt and her husband LaVern; and five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

LaVern was preceded in death by his parents, Walter and Eileen; his wife, Marian; his son, Robert; and his brother, Wayne.