Riedesel, Miles (1956-2012)

RIEDESEL, MEISHEID, HOWARD, CARRIS, IVERSON, RINEHART, HOKEL

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 7/22/2012 at 19:54:23

Miles Riedesel
(March 25, 1956 - July 8, 2012)

Miles Riedesel, 56, of Storm Lake, Iowa, died Sunday, July 8, 2012, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Sioux City after a four-month battle with leukemia.

Miles was born on March 25, 1956, in Carroll, the fourth of five children to John and Adeline Howard Riedesel. He grew up on a farm north of Glidden where he enjoyed helping his dad with field work, riding his motorcycle, and playing basketball. In 1974, he graduated from Glidden-Ralston High School where he played four years of basketball and served as student body president his senior year.

Miles, later, earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Northern Iowa. While in college, he was involved in student government and served as a writer for UNI’s student newspaper.

In April of 1987, Miles married Patience Carris and moved to Storm Lake where they established their home. They had two daughters, Shantry (23), who now lives in Marshalltown and teaches Spanish at East Marshall High School in Le Grand, and Rachel (20), who is a college student and who has been at her dad’s side throughout his illness.

Miles worked for the past twenty-five years for the City of Storm Lake’s Public Works Department. A farm boy at heart, Miles loved operating large equipment for the city and keeping the city ‘looking good.’ City officials chose him as “Employee of the Year” in 2008, the first year this award was given to anyone on the sixty-five person city staff.

Among the joys of his adult life, Miles made two trips to Europe to visit the old Riedesel hometown of Wunderthausen in Germany, the small town from which all American Riedesels originated. Miles’s dad accompanied him for the first trip in 1985, but Miles traveled solo in 1994. He treasured those visits, seeing the countryside and getting acquainted with distant relatives. While in Europe on these trips, he also visited Denmark, Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland.

Because of his love of his heritage, Miles took one semester of German in college. Nonetheless, in the years thereafter, he essentially taught himself the language well enough to correspond regularly with German relatives and friends with whom he kept in touch until he was hospitalized in early March.

Miles liked keeping up on the news. He read three newspapers every day and regularly watched television news. He had a remarkable memory for news and people. If family members needed to know when an event occurred or when someone graduated from high school or was born, died, or married, Miles could tell them.

Miles had especially fond memories of growing up in Glidden. Although he had lived away from Carroll County for many years, he was never far from his hometown in spirit. He made regular trips to Glidden to visit his brother, Cal, and mother, Adeline. Moreover, he always enjoyed returning for both high school class reunions and all-school reunions.

Miles enjoyed family, friends, old cars, old tractors, old motorcycles, and frequent drives out into the country where he would assess how the farmers’ fields were looking. In short, he enjoyed the simple pleasures of life.

Survivors include his wife of twenty-five years, Patience Riedesel, of Storm Lake; his daughters, Shantry Riedesel, of Marshalltown, and Rachel Riedesel, of Storm Lake; his mother, Adeline Riedesel, of Carroll; and his siblings, Warren (Mary) Riedesel, of Des Moines, Cal Riedesel, of Glidden, Barb (Jim) Iverson, of Minneapolis, and Suzanne (Mike) Rinehart, of Boise, Idaho; fifteen nieces and nephews; numerous cousins, aunts, and uncles; and Patience’s mother, siblings, and their families. He was preceded in death by his father, John Riedesel, in 1995, his father-in-law, Vernon Carris in 1995 and his sister-in-law, Janet Carris Hokel, in 2008.

Two services will be held. A prayer service will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, July 11, 2012, at the Assembly of God Church, 1501 W. Milwaukee Avenue, Storm Lake, with Pastor Jerry Greenwalt officiating. A social gathering will follow. The funeral service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, 309 Idaho Street, Glidden, on Thursday, July 12, 2012, with visitation from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and the funeral beginning at 7 p.m. Rev. Brian Camara will officiate at the Glidden service. Organist for the Glidden service will be Marlys Conner of Glidden, and Mary Ross of Glidden will sing “How Great Thou Art” and “On Eagle’s Wings.” Burial will be in the Merle Hay Memorial Cemetery in Glidden. Casket bearers will be long-time friends Rick Whitaker and Jim Rushton of Glidden; Dale Rose, Mark McCrea, and Dan Handlos, of Carroll; childhood friend, Joel Thevenin, of Aurelia; and cousin and friend, Jim Meisheid, of Walker. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Glidden.

Copyright © 2012, Dahn & Woodhouse Funeral Homes

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