Melvin Otto Warnke, 06 Oct 1935 - 31 Jan 2014

WARNKE, ZUMMACH, COX, WESTPFAL, SCHWAKE, LANDON, JACKSON, TOLER, KERN, BOWERS, FEDELER, OBRIAN

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 2/17/2014 at 20:00:25

Melvin Warnke, 78

Funeral service for Melivn O. Warnke, 78, Norway, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Walford. He died Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, at St. Luke’s Hospital, Cedar Rapids.

The Rev. Travis Borkosky officiated at the service.

Burial was in Floral Hills Cemetery, rural Oelwein, with military honors.

Memorials may be made to Trinity Lutheran Church, Walford, for new altar dressings.

Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo, was in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.klosterfuneralhome.com.

Melvin Otto Warnke was born Oct. 6, 1935, near Sumner, the son of Herman and Lydia Zummach Warnke. He received his education in the country schools near Ionia and Sumner. In 1954, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving during the Korean Conflict. He was stationed in Tokyo, Japan, and discharged in 1957. He returned to Sumner and began working for H.J. Schult Elevator.

He married Karen Cox June 18, 1961, in Charles City. The couple relocated to Rochester, Minn., where he was employed at A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Firm. The couple had three children. They later divorced.

He and his children returned to Oelwein in 1968, and he and his brother-in-law, Oliver Westpfal, began W and W Trucking. From 1974 to 1986, he worked for Overland Express. He sold his interest in W and W Trucking and in July of 1986, he started driving for Wal-Mart, until retiring in January 2006.

Following six months of retirement, he returned to work part-time for Truck Country in Cedar Rapids. He retired again in 2011.

All total, he drove for 39 years and he belonged to the three million mile club for Wal-Mart.

He married Shirley Ann Schwake April 8, 1989, at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Iowa City. The couple made their home in Norway.

He enjoyed woodworking, playing cards and going to the casinos. He loved to watch his grandsons, Karch, Adam and Austin, play baseball and football. He was always ready to play tea party with Lauran.

He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, Walford, and the Norway American Legion Post 234. He was a past member of the Sumner American Legion.

He is survived by his wife, Shirley; his children, Renae (Rick) Landon, Idaho Falls, Idaho; Michele Warnke, Des Moines, and Galen Warnke, Zumbrota, Minn.; grandsons, Ryan Jackson, Idaho, and Bruce Warnke, Mazeppa, Minn.; granddaughters, Kara Toler, Blackfoot, Idaho, and Ashley Warnke, Goodhue, Minn.; three great-grandchildren, Wyatt Kern, Kaylee and Kylie Toler, and one soon to be born; three sisters, Dorothy Bowers, Hawkeye; Ruby Westpfal, Oelwein, and Verdis (John) Fedeler, Sumner; a brother, Vernon (Linda) Warnke, Oelwein; stepsons, James (Christine) Schwake, Altoona; Jay (Andrea) Schwake, Solon, and Jarret (Wendy) Schwake, Waukesha, Wis.; s stepdaughter, JaNan (Robert) O’Brian, Ames; step-granddaughters, Fallyn and Lauran Schwake, and step-grandsons, Karch, Benjamin, Adam and Austin Schwake.

He was preceded in death by his parents; one sister, Grace; two brothers-in-law, Archie Bowers and Oliver Westpfal, and a sister in infancy.

The Williamsburg Journal Tribune, 06 Feb 2014
The Gazette, 03 Feb 2014