Swehla, Daniel John 1929-2012
SWEHLA, ONDRASHEK, CLAPP, GREEN, OBRIEN, RUSSELL, DIDIER, DELONG, JENEARY, SKUSTER, CURTIS, RETTERATH, CARLSON, HEYING, GRIFFIN, KRUSE, LENSING
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 12/9/2012 at 13:22:02
Daniel Swehla, age 82, of Spillville, IA died Sunday, February 26, 2012 at Wellington Place in Decorah, IA
Mass of Christian Burial will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at the St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Spillville, IA With Rev. Donald Hawes presiding. Burial will be in the church cemetery.
Visitation will be from 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at Balik Funeral Home in Spillville, there will be a rosary at 4:00 and scripture service at 5:00. There will also be visitation after 9:30 Wednesday at the funeral home.
Daniel John Swehla was born March 8, 1929 in Spillville, IA, the youngest of five children born to John J. and Albina (Ondrashek) Swehla, the village blacksmith. At the young age of five, his mother died in a tragic accident. In his young life he loved to hunt and fish along the Turkey River, which ran behind his home and the blacksmith shop. He became interested in farming when two of his uncles, Frank and Ed, took him out to their farm to help with chores. His first jobs were to deliver Clover Farm advertising fliers and deliver ice for iceboxes in Spillville. He attended Spillville Public School until tenth grade, then went to Calmar where he graduated in 1946. In 1951, he joined the U.S. Army and served two years in Korea and received an honorable discharge in 1953. He returned home and continued his farming; renting land by Ridgeway and Decorah. He also found time to pitch baseball for the Spillville town team on Sundays and enjoyed going to wedding dances at the Inwood nearly every night of the week. In 1956 he met his sweetheart, Elsie Reicks. They were married May 22, 1957, at St. Luke’s Church in St. Lucas, Iowa. Dan and Elsie bought a farm one and a half miles east of Spillville, and farmed 45 years. In 2009, they built a new home in Spillville. Dan was a member of St. Wenceslaus Church, Holy Name Society, Spillville American Legion, and Turkey River Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Civic Improvement Associations. He loved to watch his children’s various sports activities, taking them to the Mississippi on fishing trips and the annual Swehla family camping weekend. He enjoyed going on fishing trips to Canada with his friends and walking the nature trail. He loved hunting deer and in 1961, he shot his trophy buck. He enjoyed spending time, joking and laughing, with his children and grandchildren and teaching them how to pitch a good curve or fastball. He was a member of Spillville First Responders and the Adopt a Highway program. Dan and Elsie loved to travel and made various trips to Germany, Czech Republic and the Yellow Stone National park. On September 11, 2001, Dan and Elsie were on a bus heading to downtown New York when their bus had to turn around and they witnessed the smoke coming from the twin towers.
Survivors include his wife of 54 years, Elsie Swehla, four daughters and one son: Mary (Karl) Clapp of Marion; Audrey (Ted) Green of Elkhorn, Nebraska; Terri (Mark) O’Brien of Greene; Janine (Kevin) Russell of Waverly; and John (Dawn) Swehla of Sumner. Thirteen grandchildren: Eryn (Matt) Didier, Kelly (Isaac) DeLong, Leslie Clapp, Benjamin and Kelsey Green, Gregory and Kristen O’Brien, Lindee (Phil) Jeneary, Shelley (Chris) Skuster, Joseph (fiancé Jessica Bolt ) Russell, Daniel C., Alyssa and Katherine Swehla. Six great-grandchildren: Dayton, Austin, and Briella Curtis, Liliannah, Evangeline and Mirabella DeLong. He is also survived by sisters-in-law: Clara Swehla, and Marian (Norbert) Retterath of Spillville, Grace Reicks and Lorraine (Wayne) Carlson of New Hampton, and seven brothers-in-law: Norbert (Virginia) Reicks, Alex Reicks, Francis (Lucille) Reicks, Ardwin (Edna) Reicks, all of Lawler, Don Reicks of Ft. Atkinson, Harry (Barb) Reicks of St. Lucas, and Roy (Carolyn) Reicks of Missouri Valley, IA.
He was preceded in death by his parents John J. and Albina (Ondrashek) Swehla. Father and mother-in-law: Victor and Mary (Heying) Reicks and his siblings: Edith (John) Griffin, George, James, and Benjamin Swehla. Brothers and Sisters-in-law: Msgr. Leander Reicks, Neal (Alice)(Vernice) Reicks, Lucille (Linus) Kruse, Eugene Reicks, Jerome Reicks, Luella Reicks, Roche Lensing and Joseph Reicks in infancy
Source: Schluter - Balik Funeral Home database
St. Wenceslaus Catholic Cemetery
Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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