Orville Edward Greiner

December 29, 1928 - December 19, 2018

Orville E. "Ed" Greiner, of Sioux City, died Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018, at Holy Spirit Retirement Home in Sioux City. He would have celebrated his 90th birthday on Dec. 29. Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Holy Cross Parish-Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. Visitation will be 10 a.m. until service time Thursday at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Larkin Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Homes. Ed was born to Emil and Olga (Olsen) Greiner, on Dec. 29, 1928, in Sioux City. He spent his life in the city and graduated from Central High School in 1946. He went straight into the U.S. Navy, serving as a pilot and flight instructor until his honorable discharge at the end of World War II. After returning home, Ed fell in love with Mary Pat Rowan. The two were united in marriage on April 22, 1950. Throughout their 47 years of marriage, Ed and Mary Pat raised ten children. The couple was active in the Blessed Sacrament Church parish; Mary Pat was a sixth-grade teacher at the school and Ed sang in the church choir and coached youth football for several years at St. Boniface Catholic School. They shared a passion for ham radio and Ed was active in the Sioux City Civil Defense. Ed was employed briefly at Sioux Tools before beginning his 45-year career at Kalin's Heating & Air as a sheet metal fabricator and later shop foreman, a position he held until 1988. After retirement, Ed took every opportunity to golf at Sun Valley Golf Course and played league golf with his friends and children. He also spent time woodworking, building CB radios, and repairing computers. Ed was a longtime Nebraska Husker football fanatic, even using the fight song as his ringtone. Ed is survived by his children, Joe (Di) of Omaha, Michael (Annie) of Dakota Dunes, Mark (Mary) of Mapleton, Iowa, Paul (DiAnn) of Sioux City, Bob (Jo) of North Sioux City, Jim (Heidi) of Sioux City, Ellen (Mark) Duman of Bellevue, Neb., Loretta (Daryl) Howard of Hinton, Iowa, and Rita (Gene) Flair of Sioux City; 33 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; his two brothers and their wives, Rev. Emil "Moe" (Marilyn) Greiner of Rapid City, S.D., and Bill (Barb) Greiner of Orange City, Iowa; many loving cousins; and others who held a special place in his life, Ken (Bonnie) Novak, Mary Greiner, Judy Bell, and Tim Heiner. He was preceded in death by parents, Emil and Olga; wife, Mary Pat; daughter, Cathy Greiner Novak; infant daughter, Jennifer; and two grandchildren, Courtney and J.J. Greiner.