News

Thomas John Lee

January 19, 1951– January 11, 2026

Thomas John Lee was born in Breckenridge, MN on January 19^th, 1951 to Virgil and Gladys (Kirkeby) Lee.

Tom attended grade school and high school in Wahpeton, ND and graduated from Wahpeton High School in 1969.  He then attended ND State College of Science in Wahpeton, Westmar College in LeMars, Iowa, and graduated from Southwest State University in Marshall, MN in 1973, majoring in music education.

He married Marcia Ellen Stowe in Marshalltown, IA on June 12^th, 1977.  They enjoyed building a life together and God blessed them with four children: Bethany Anderson (Ethan), Benjamin (Channing), Miriam Sofia Greeno (Ryan), Susanna Garcia (Nick), and were blessed later with 12 grandchildren and 3 step-grandchildren.

Tom taught choral music in Lake Benton, MN, Appleton, MN, and then, for 37 years, in the Durant, IA Community School District, retiring in 2016.  Tom found his niche in teaching and enjoyed every year of working with young people and directing choirs.

Tom was active in the Church of the Living Water in Muscatine, IA, where he served as an elder and worship leader/musician.  The CLW was his and Marcia’s spiritual family.

Tom was a student of the Bible, spending time each morning reading and finding encouragement in its pages.  Early in life, Tom invited Jesus Christ into his life, and then spent the rest of his life seeking to learn more about following Him.  

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Celebration of Life

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Bernard Blaskowski

June 15, 1953  – September 20, 2025

Bernard Blaskowski, 72, of Fruitland, passed away on Saturday, September 20, 2025 at his home.  A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, October 3, 2025 at 10:00 AM at Church of the Living Water 3120 Park Ave W, Muscatine.  Private family burial will be held in Melpine Cemetery.  Snyder & Hollenbaugh Funeral & Cremation Services of Muscatine is assisting the family.  Online condolences may be left for the family at www.sandhfuneralservices.com. 

Bernard Leo Blaskowski was born on June 15, 1953 in Minnesota, the son of Ernest and Pauline (Hammell) Blaskowski.  Bernard was a graduate of Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Minnesota.  On April 30, 1988, Bernard was united in marriage to Sheila Jones in Muscatine.  Bernard retired last year following working for many years as a machine tool and dye builder.   He was a member of Church of the Living Water.  He enjoyed listening to Christian music and spending time with his grandchildren. 

Bernard will be deeply missed by his wife, Sheila; children, Bernard Blaskowski of Fruitland, Faith (Jacob) Lane of West Liberty; Christiana (James) Tompkins of Muscatine, George Blaskowski of West Liberty, Letha Blaskowski, Sheila “Tikvah” (Eleazar “Junior”) Reyna of West Liberty; four grandchildren, Avery and Weston Blaskowski and Enoch and Evangeline Lane and siblings, Dan (Pat) Blaskowski of St. Paul, Minnesota, Cecilia (Michael) Weaver of Hawaii, Virginia (Tony) Kujawa of Florida, Pauline (Mike) Siebenaler of Minnesota, Lorraine (Steven) Garrison of Florida, George Blaskowski of Minnesota, Leo (Barb) Blaskowski of Minnesota, Frances (Randy) Klug of Iowa and Matt (Pam) Blaskowski of Minnesota.  

He was preceded in death by his parents; daughter, Ruth Janowski and brother, Ernest Blaskowski. 

Pastor Mark Anderson
August 11, 1942 – July 9, 2025

Mark pastored the Church of the Living Water since 1976. He served over 40 years as lead pastor from 1976 to 2019, and continued to work actively in shepherding the church until the present day, nearly 50 years in total.

Mark went home to be with Jesus on July 9th peacefully at home.

Celebration of Life

Wednesday, July 16

10am

Church of the Living Water

The church and community is invited to a Celebration of Life on July 16th at 10am. Light meal to follow.

Zoom Link

We will have Zoom running during the service if you’d like to watch from afar. Be aware that the Zoom setup is not ideal, especially for the music which doesn’t come through clearly. But the speaking portions of the service should come through clearly.

Click here to access the Zoom link →

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Barry Mark Anderson Obituary

Barry Mark Anderson died on July 9th, 2025. Mark was the pastor of Church of the Living Water in Muscatine, Iowa for close to fifty years.

From his children: Our dad lived an abundant life. He used what he had. What he didn’t have he built, and he trusted that God would provide. In the 1980s when we lived in the church parsonage, Dad wanted to ensure that Mom would have a home of her own when he died. So together with our older brothers, Dad built her a house. His parents said they didn’t think he knew how to build a house, but they were sure he could figure it out. Dad was an avid gardener and caretaker to the land that God provided, raising grassfed lamb and planting apple, pear, and peach trees, some of which finally burst full of fruit this year for the first time. His sights were set on the future, on eternity.

Destined for an unconventional life, two pivotal moments in the 1960s set him off on a life of adventure. The first was his introduction to the Holy Spirit, who breathed life into his faith in Christ. Dad had a deep and rich knowledge of the scriptures, nurtured through daily prayer, study, and yielding to God. He took God at his word, and saw himself as a co-laborer with Christ. We know that it had been a struggle for him to accept his call to the ministry, but once he did, it’s apparent that God delighted in his obedience.

The second pivotal moment was meeting our mother, Kari, who we are convinced is the only woman on earth who could have been such a stalwart and steadfast co-adventurer alongside our father. Two iconoclasts who found each other amid a sea of sameness. They were happily married for nearly 53 years.

Together our parents built a life, raised seven children, and traveled the world. As early pioneers in the homeschool movement, our parents helped to pave the way for the parental rights enjoyed by so many today.

Barry Mark Anderson was born in Oregon on August 11, 1942 to Rognar and June Anderson. The grandson of Swedish immigrants, he attended Colton High School, Pacific Lutheran University, Lutheran Bible Institute, and received his MDiv from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Our father died as he lived, surrounded by his family in the home he built. He remained kind, grateful, and loving even to the end.

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Beginning in February, we will have a Winter/Spring semester of Bible study and fellowship at the church building. We plan to run for 12 weeks and then take a break for summer. 

• Every Wednesday 
• 6:30pm-8pm
• Starting February 19
• Ending May 7 (12 weeks total)

Adults will have a time of Bible study and discussion. Pastor Ethan will lead the first four weeks of Bible study, and then we plan to go through a video-based series on the topic of healing taught by Randy Clark, from a ministry called Global Awakening. 

• For small children ages 0-4, our nursery worker Peggy will be on-site to care for them.
• For kids aged 5-10, we will have a kids program taught by Liliana Anderson. 
• There’s no meal planned, but feel free to bring snacks to share if you’d like!

Looking forward to a time of study and fellowship! 

Longtime church member and friend David Kerr passed away on Friday.

Please keep his wife Deb and their family in your prayers.

The church is invited to the memorial service:

Friday, February 7th, at 11am, at the church building.

Official obituary →

An introduction to the Holy Spirit over a weekend of teachings from Clem Ferris.

The Bible talks a lot about the Holy Spirit. 

The first-century church made a big emphasis on understanding and interacting with the Spirit. Who is He? How do we meet Him? What does He do? How do we interact with Him?

We want to be like the early church in this aspect. We want to understand more about the Holy Spirit and to develop a relationship with Him. 

One of the emphases of our church is to fully embrace what is called the “Spirit-filled life.” 

Our friend Clem Ferris will be here in March to help us understand and embrace the Person and work of the Spirit. 

For over 30 years, Clem has traveled nationally and internationally equipping believers through a strong combination of teaching and prophetic ministry. He currently serves on the oversight teams of ten churches and as a church consultant. 

Learn more about Clem at his website.

We will have some extra meetings while Clem is here, to learn from him. 

These meetings would be good for you if you are:

• New to the idea of the Holy Spirit, and curious.
• Skeptical about the Holy Spirit, but open to learning more.
• A lifelong learner and you want to keep building your relationship with the Spirit. 

No matter which category you’re in, you’re sure to pick up something from these meetings. The whole church is invited and encouraged to participate. 

Friday, March 7

• 6:30pm-8pm

Saturday, March 8

• 9:30am-12noon
• Donuts and coffee hot and ready at 9am, come get settled in, we will start promptly at 9:30!
• 9:30am-10:30am session 1
• Break
• 11am-12pm session 2
• End at 12 noon

Sunday, March 9

• Regular service times
• 9am Worship & Prayer
• 9:45am Coffee and carbs
• 10:15am Main service

For each of these meeting times, there will be: 

• Childcare for kids aged 0-4
• Activity boxes for kids aged 5-10

See you there!