Donald Guetzko
November 17, 1926 — January 29, 2020
Donald Guetzko, 93, of Delhi, Iowa, passed away on Wednesday, January 29, 2020, at the Good Neighbor Home in Manchester. Visitation will be held from 2 – 6 p.m. on Sunday, February 2, 2020, at Clifton-Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Earlville. Reverend Donald Krause will conduct services. Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. with visitation being one hour before on Monday, February 3, 2020, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Delaware. The Committal Service will be at 1:30 p.m. on Monday at Pine View Cemetery, Delaware.
Don was born November 17, 1926, in Delhi, Iowa, the son of Gustaf and Jennie (Kurth) Guetzko. He graduated from Delhi High School in 1945. On June 21, 1957, Don was united in marriage to Wilma Gates. She passed away on March 14, 2013. He began farming at the age of 14 when his father passed away, raising cattle, pigs, sheep, and crops. Farming remained a central focus of Don’s entire life, and he stayed involved and helped on the farm well into his eighties. Don actively served the community through the Maquoketa Valley School Board, Cattlemen and Pork Producers Associations, Farm Bureau, Delhi Co-Op Board, St. Paul’s Church Board, the Heritage Bank Board of Directors, and Delhi Lions Club. He was a devoted lifelong member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Delaware and attended parochial school there. Don was a 50-year member of Country Cousins Square Dance Club, and he and Wilma danced often with a large, close-knit group of friends. He also enjoyed playing cards and games with friends, watching wildlife on Silver Lake, and his cat Tiger. While spending winters at J-5 Park in Mission, Texas, Don attended Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church and enjoyed playing shuffleboard and fast track. Don was a committed husband, father, and grandfather, and loved spending time with family. He so dearly missed Wilma, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Don is survived by his five children, John (Peggy) Guetzko of West Branch, Wendy Dekarske of Waterloo, Grant (Tana) Guetzko of Delhi, Beth Birdsell of Sioux City, and Becky (Kit) Hart of Spokane, Washington; 13 grandchildren, Valerie Guetzko, Michael Guetzko, Lu Guetzko, Michelle Guetzko, Amber (Wes) Vaske, Austin (Olena) Wessels, Greg Guetzko, Garrett Guetzko, Gabriela Guetzko, Faith Birdsell, Libby Birdsell, Nichol Hart, and Laura Hart; brother-in-law, Jerry Engel; and many nieces and nephews.
Don was preceded in death by his parents; wife Wilma Gates Guetzko; son-in-law, William Dekarske; nephew, Greg V. Guetzko; and siblings, Louis (Elgene, Peg) Guetzko, Evelyn (Lewis) Berends, Vida (Denny) Vesey Engel and Betty Ann (Ben) McGee.
Don was born November 17, 1926, in Delhi, Iowa, the son of Gustaf and Jennie (Kurth) Guetzko. He graduated from Delhi High School in 1945. On June 21, 1957, Don was united in marriage to Wilma Gates. She passed away on March 14, 2013. He began farming at the age of 14 when his father passed away, raising cattle, pigs, sheep, and crops. Farming remained a central focus of Don’s entire life, and he stayed involved and helped on the farm well into his eighties. Don actively served the community through the Maquoketa Valley School Board, Cattlemen and Pork Producers Associations, Farm Bureau, Delhi Co-Op Board, St. Paul’s Church Board, the Heritage Bank Board of Directors, and Delhi Lions Club. He was a devoted lifelong member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Delaware and attended parochial school there. Don was a 50-year member of Country Cousins Square Dance Club, and he and Wilma danced often with a large, close-knit group of friends. He also enjoyed playing cards and games with friends, watching wildlife on Silver Lake, and his cat Tiger. While spending winters at J-5 Park in Mission, Texas, Don attended Spirit of Peace Lutheran Church and enjoyed playing shuffleboard and fast track. Don was a committed husband, father, and grandfather, and loved spending time with family. He so dearly missed Wilma, and he will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Don is survived by his five children, John (Peggy) Guetzko of West Branch, Wendy Dekarske of Waterloo, Grant (Tana) Guetzko of Delhi, Beth Birdsell of Sioux City, and Becky (Kit) Hart of Spokane, Washington; 13 grandchildren, Valerie Guetzko, Michael Guetzko, Lu Guetzko, Michelle Guetzko, Amber (Wes) Vaske, Austin (Olena) Wessels, Greg Guetzko, Garrett Guetzko, Gabriela Guetzko, Faith Birdsell, Libby Birdsell, Nichol Hart, and Laura Hart; brother-in-law, Jerry Engel; and many nieces and nephews.
Don was preceded in death by his parents; wife Wilma Gates Guetzko; son-in-law, William Dekarske; nephew, Greg V. Guetzko; and siblings, Louis (Elgene, Peg) Guetzko, Evelyn (Lewis) Berends, Vida (Denny) Vesey Engel and Betty Ann (Ben) McGee.
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