Tratchel, Leland 1921-2006

TRATCHEL, HAMMER, MILLER

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 7/31/2006 at 19:45:53

KILLDUFF -- Leland Tratchel, 85, of Killduff died Monday, April 24, 2006, at Skiff Medical Center in Newton.

A private family burial will be at Vandalia Cemetery near Vandalia with the Rev. Merle Smith, chaplain of Skiff Medical Center in Newton, officiating. Wallace Family Funeral Home in Newton is handling arrangements.

The family will greet friends from 4 to 7 p.m. today at the funeral home. Memorials to Camp Courageous may be left at the funeral home.

The son of Rex and Bertha (Hammer) Tratchel, he was born Feb. 17, 1921, in rural Newton. He graduated from Newton Senior High School in 1939 and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He took part in the D-Day Normandy invasion and received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. He was a blacksmith and owned and operated Tratchel Repair Shop in Killduff. On Sept. 16, 1943, he married Dorothy Inez Miller in Ivy. He enjoyed fishing, boating and anything to do with the outdoors and nature.

Mr. Tratchel is survived by his wife; three sons and a daughter-in-law, Carl Tratchel of Waterloo, Jack Tratchel of Iowa City and Lee and Mary Tratchel of Galesburg; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Maudie Wyss of Siebring, Fla., and Donav Hopkins of Omaha, Neb.

He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Bruce Tratchel.

The Newton Daily News, April 26, 2006