Wesley W. Dreeszen 1911 - 2009

DREESZEN, VOLKERT

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 3/31/2020 at 01:45:00

Sioux City Journal
8 January 2009

CUSHING, Iowa -- Wesley W. Dreeszen, 97, of Cherokee, Iowa, formerly of Holstein and Cushing, Iowa, died Monday, Jan. 5, 2009, at Countryside Estates in Cherokee.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at St. John Lutheran Church in Cushing, with the Rev. Bev Wolff officiating. Burial will be in Cushing Cemetery. Visitation will be 3 to 8 p.m. Friday, with the family present 5 to 7 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at Nicklas D. Jensen Funeral Home in Holstein.

Wesley Dreeszen was born Jan. 19, 1911, near Pierson, Iowa. He was baptized as an infant. He started country school southwest of Cushing, then moved with his parents and family to a farm northeast of Cushing, where he attended country school. He graduated from Cushing Consolidated High School in 1928. He attended an apiary course in Ames, Iowa. He farmed with his father (even though he lost his left arm in an accident). In 1936, he bought a 160-acre farm which joined his father's. Horses were used the first several years in farming.

On Nov. 8, 1942, he married Florence Volkert of Cushing. The couple adopted an infant, George Wesley, who was the joy of their lives. When he sold his horses and used tractors, he taught Florence to drive the tractors and also how to milk cows, so she could help him with the farming. He also had a young man help him during the busy seasons. During his first year of farming, they endured bad weather and the crops dried out. He also had years where the grasshoppers ruined the crops as well. Besides farming crops, he raised hogs and cattle and milked cows, which kept him busy.

In 1989, the couple moved off the farm to Holstein, but he kept working on the farm until he finally decided to rent out the land. In 2005, the couple moved to Char-Mac Assisted Living in Holstein. In September 2008, they planned to move to Cherokee, Iowa (to be closer to their doctor) at The Gardens, an assisted living facility in Cherokee. However, the day before they moved, he suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He was not able to move in with Florence but instead spent his last months in the Countryside Estates, a nursing home close to where Florence lives.

He was active in politics in his younger years, served on the REC committee, was on the church building committee and church council. He also was the Douglas Township assessor, which he did for many years. His suggestion of the Co-op name was chosen to be used for the Co-op for many years.

He is survived by his wife, Florence of Cherokee; a brother and his wife, Emmit and Lois Dreeszen of Ames, Iowa; two sisters, Ina Volkert of Holstein and Velma Goettsch of Holstein; granddaughters and their husbands, Melissa and Danny Young of Somerset, Ky., Michele and Stewart Bibby of Crestline, Calif., and Melinda and David Brown of Phoenix, Ariz.; and eight great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, R.J. and Louise (Bruene) Dreeszen; his son, George W. Dreeszen in 2000; a brother and his wife, Elvie and Norma Dreeszen; and brothers-in-law, Dean Goettsch and Lawrence Volkert.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established.