David Wiley

David Wiley, age 93, of Newell, Iowa died Friday, August 21, 2015 at Loring Hospital in Sac City, Iowa, surrounded by grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 2:30 p.m. at the St. Peter Lutheran Church in Newell. Burial will follow in the Newell Cemetery with full military rites by the Newell American Legion Post #193. Visitation will take place Monday, August 24, 2015 from 4-8:00 p.m. with the family present from 6-8:00 p.m. at the Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Newell. The Fratzke & Jensen Funeral Home in Newell is in charge of the arrangements. David Arthur Wiley, born August 13, 1922 to Arthur Wilson and Pansy (Erskine) Wiley, grew up in Page, Nebraska. Dave had two brothers, John and Harold, and one sister, Florence. He went to school for ten years in Gross, Nebraska, one year in Lynch, Nebraska where school was three miles from his home- they rode horses to school. His last year was in Burnside, Iowa, where he graduated in 1941. Dave worked for Fareway in Fort Dodge, Iowa for one year, and then worked on a farm for Karl Godman. He had a deferment from the service because he worked on a farm, so he went to work for a lumber yard and then he could go into the service. In September of 1944, he went to the Army with basic training in Texas. He went overseas on the USS Hayes with 4,000 other servicemen. He was first sent to the Philippines and received a Battle Star. He was a gunner on a machine gun. He set booby traps and a grenade went off and he was injured on his forehead and eye and was temporarily blinded. He was in the hospital for four weeks and received a Purple Heart. They were down to 68 men so they had to call for replacements, and he got to help train them. They fired two bombs at the Japanese. The Japanese surrendered in August of 1945. They watched the signing of the Peace Treaty from their ship. He was a Staff Sergeant when he was discharged in November of 1946. From 1947 – 1948 he farmed for Arvid Johnson. On April 6, 1947, he married the love of his life, Irene Maurine Anderson at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashua, Iowa. They were married until Irene’s death in 2002. They were blessed with eight children: Colleen, Beverly, Michael, Steven, Mark, Cheryl, Barbara, and Christine. Steven died as an infant in 1954, while they lived in Rockwell City. In 1956, they lived in Alta and he worked for Grau Motors in Newell. In 1957, they moved to Newell where they remained until his death. From 1960 until 1965, he worked for Mammen Motors in Storm Lake. In 1965, he went back to work for Grau Motors in Newell until 1975. He worked for Buena Vista County in the maintenance garage from 1975 until 1987 when he “retired”. He then went to work for Hansen Motors in Sac City for a short while. In 1988, he started spraying ditches for Buena Vista County. He was on the city council in Newell for 20 years, was a three-time Elder at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Newell with each term lasting three years. He served on the Buena Vista Solid Waste Commission at the recycle plant in Storm Lake from 1982 until 2014. He was the American Legion Commander two times and the VFW Commander for a few years. His greatest joy was spending time with his family. He loved get-togethers with whomever was available. He loved attending events for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He enjoyed breakfast with the guys on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. For many years, he thoroughly enjoyed his golf games with whomever he could find to golf. He spent many winter vacations in Arizona staying with his daughter Colleen. One of his favorite pastimes was playing cards, dice, or Chicken-foot dominoes. Dave never met a stranger. He had a knack of striking up a conversation with people he had never met before and was a friend for life. Preceding him in death were his parents; his son, Steven; his wife, Irene; infant granddaughter, Kerri Sangwin; brothers, Harold and John; sister, Florence Wiley; daughter, Cheryl Bruns in January of 2015; and son, Mark in April of 2015; sisters-in-law: Beth, Evelyn, and Kathryn; and brother-in-law, Richard Anderson and his wife, Maynette. He is survived by his children: Colleen (Dan) Marchant of Buckeye, Arizona; Beverly (Paul) Sangwin of Aurelia, Iowa; Michael Wiley of Cherokee, Iowa; Barbara (Dean) Phillips of Alta, Iowa; and Christine Tomford of Early, Iowa; brother-in-law, Omar Burkgren of Mason City, Iowa; grandchildren: Bradley Jorgen, Melanie (Carl) Young, Kim Sangwin, Matt Sangwin, Andrew Sangwin, David (Amy) Wiley, Greg Wiley (fiancée, Lindsay), Sonny (Tracy) Bruns, Stacy (Jeff) Talbott, Scott (Liz) Bruns, April DeWall, Angela DeWall, Tiffany (Jeff) Titus, Lindsay (Chris) Handy, Josh Phillips, Justin Phillips, Joseph (Freedom) Bunkers; twenty-four great grandchildren; many nieces, nephews, and friends. He will be greatly missed by all who ever had the pleasure of knowing him.

David Wiley

August 13, 1922 - August 21, 2015