Alfred Walter "Wally" Erkel 1928 - 2009

POEHLER, ERKEL, TOENGES, JONES

Posted By: Nancy (email)
Date: 10/29/2009 at 20:11:05

Funeral services for Alfred W. "Wally" Erkel, 81, of Sumner, Iowa, will be held at 10:30 a.m. today (Wednesday) at St. John Lutheran Church, Sumner. Officiating will be the Rev. William Runaas Jr. and intern Jealaine Marple.

Burial will be in the church cemetery. Military rites will be conducted by Thomas E. Woods American Legion Post 223 of Sumner. Casket bearers will be Dan Erkel, Ben Pagel, Kevin Toenges, Matt Erkel, Phil Niedert, and Travis Seehase.

Visitation was set for Tuesday, Oct. 27, 4 p.m.-7 p.m., at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home, Sumner, and for an hour preceding services at the church today.

Wally's death occurred Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, at Community Memorial Hospital, Sumner, after a long battle with cancer.

Alfred Walter "Wally" Erkel, son of Alfred and Renetta (Poehler) Erkel, was born Oct. 11, 1928, in Mankato, Minn.

Wally was confirmed at St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner and graduated from Sumner High School in 1947.

He served with the U.S. Navy Seabees from 1950-1954 as a construction builder first class. He was stationed at Guam and Chichi Jima in the Pacific Ocean.

On Jan. 2, 1953, Wally was wed to Evelyn Toenges at Trinity Lutheran Church in Hawkeye. The couple have farmed northeast of Sumner since 1955.

In addition to farming, Wally was a bus driver and maintenance director for the Sumner Community School District for 22 years. He also worked for the A.S.C. Department of the U.S.D.A. for many years.

Wally was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Sumner and had served on the church council many times.

Active in his community, he was a Fayette County Community committeeman for 10 years; a member of the Fayette County Extension Council, the Steering Committee for the Sumner Co-Op, Thomas E. Woods American Legion Post 223 in Sumner, and the Memories Forever Committee.

His parents preceded him in death.

Wally is survived by his wife, Evelyn, of Sumner; two children, James (Sherri) Erkel of Central City and June Erkel of Waterloo; three grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and a sister, Gretchen (Guy "Jeep") Jones of Cambridge, Ill.

Fayette County Union - 28 October 2009

Fayette Obituaries maintained by Constance Diamond.
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