Donald W. KEPLEY

BRANER, KEPLEY, HIGGENS, HORNBUCKLE, HANSMEIER, BAILEY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 6/25/2009 at 09:53:58

May 17, 1998
Mason City Globe Gazette, Iowa

MASON CITY — Donald W. Kepley, 82, of 24 13th St. N.E., died Friday (May 15, 1998) at the Willow Creek Health Care Center. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at First Christian Church, 318 N. Adams Ave., with the Rev. Richard Eichenlaub officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery, with flag folding provided by the Mason City Veterans Memorial Association. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. today at Major-Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave., and will continue one hour prior to services at the church. Memorials may be given to the Donald W. Kepley Memorial Fund.

Donald W. Kepley was born Jan. 13, 1916, in Springhill, the son of George Ross and Opal (Higgens) Kepley. He came to Mason City at a young age and graduated from Mason City High School in 1933. He worked for Virgil Reid until entering the Army in 1941. He served as a mechanics instructor at Fort Benning, Ga., and saw action in Europe. Upon his return to Mason City in 1946, he returned to his job with Virgil Reid. On Feb. 28, 1946, he married June Braner on her parents’ farm near Belmond. He continued working for Virgil Reid and the Lane Brothers, retiring in 1981 after 35 years. He served as a deacon and elder of First Christian Church in Mason City, of which he was a member for 65 years. He also was a longtime member of the American Legion Post 101 in Mason City. He enjoyed bowling, golfing, fishing trips and especially enjoyed family vacations.

He is survived by his wife, June Kepley, of Mason City; his children, Dick and Vickie Hornbuckle of Mason City, Ross and Heidi Kepley of Chaska, Minn., and Bruce and Glenna Hansmeier of Clear Lake. Also surviving him are his beloved grandchildren, Mike and Kim Bailey, Chad and Debbie Hansmeier, and Shane Hansmeier; seven great-grandchildren, Maddison, Alex, Jake, Jonathan, Taylor, Allysa and Cassie, who brought him tears of joy. Also surviving are two brothers-in-law, Walt and Gloria Braner, and Don and Eileen Braner; and many nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, one brother and one son-in-law.