Obituary of Robert W. Wessels

Survivors include his wife of 57 years, Frances, 7 children: Shirley (John) Oberbroeckling of East Dubuque, IL, Michael (Joyce) Wessels of Rickardsville, IA, Beverly (John) Lucas of Sherrill, IA, Debra (Charles) Klein of Farmingdale, NY, Thomas (Terry) Wessels of Rockford, IL, Jeffrey (Amy) Wessels of Bedford, NH, and Amy (Tim) Koehn of Holy Cross, IA, 18 grandchildren: Jenny (Justin), Lynn (Chad), Amber (John), Brian (Amanda), Jay (Kathy), Steve (Katie), Jonathan, Jeremy (Sharon), Wendy, Emily, Alison (Aaron), Dan, Heather (Nick), Anne, Johanna, Megan, Olivia, and Sam; 12 great grandchildren; a sister, Ida Rose (Lavern) Sabers, a brother Francis "Hank" Wessels and sisters-in-law, Gladys Wessels, Cheri Wessels and Wilma Lake and brother-in-law, George (Grace) Menke. He was preceded in death by his parents, grandchildren: Mary Frances and Kelly Marie (both in infancy), brothers: Ernest and Richard "Breeze" Wessels and brother-in-law, James Lake. Robert was born on August 17, 1930 in Petersburg, Iowa, the son of Edward and Dorothy (Oberbroeckling) Wessels. He married Frances Menke on September 18, 1951 in Dyersville, Iowa. Bob farmed in the Holy Cross area for 25 years. He also owned and operated Wessels' Custom Combining for 22 years from which he retired in 2005. "Big Bob" had a wonderful life filled with caring relatives and friends. Thanks for the adventure! Friends may call from 2 - 8 p.m. Friday, August 22, 2008, at Kramer Funeral Home in Holy Cross where there will a wake service at 2 p.m.