Obituaries

Walter Fee, age 100, of Breda, Iowa, died early Monday, February 23, 2009, at the Carroll Health Center Nursing Home in Carroll. Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:30 A.M., Thursday, February 26, 2009, at St. Bernard Church in Breda. The Celebrant will be Father Joe Dillinger. Lectors will be Mr. Fee’s sons, Dr. Paul Fee, Dr. Bruce Fee, and Dr. Phillip Fee. Gift Bearers will be daughters, Janet Dethlefsen and Virginia Schweers. Mass Servers will be great grandsons, Tanner Vonnahme, Bryce McCloskey, and Jacob Sporrer. Eucharistic Ministers will be Dale Schweers, Jeff Sporrer, and Sheri Dirkx. Honorary Pallbearers will be granddaughters, Dr. Cindy Kemp, Debbie Renze, Diane Vonnahme, Jackie Dethlefsen, Michelle McCloskey, Stacey Sporrer, and Katheryn Fee. Casket Bearers will be grandsons, Dr. Michael Fee, Mark Dethlefsen, Dr. Martin Fee, Patrick Fee, John Fee, Dr. Dominic Fee, Scott Schweers, Douglas Fee, and Colin Fee. Burial will be at St. Bernard Cemetery in Breda. Friends may call at the Sharp Funeral Home in Breda after 2:30 P.M. Wednesday. A rosary will be prayed at 3 P.M. Wednesday by the Breda Catholic Order of Foresters. There will be a Christian wake service at 7 P.M. Wednesday by St. Bernard Parish. In lieu of flowers memorials may be left at the funeral home or church for the Breda Fire Department. Mr. Fee was born on November 21, 1908, on a farm between Arcadia and Breda, the son of Philip and Anna (Luchtel) Fee. As a small boy he moved with his family to Breda. In 1927 he graduated with the first class from St. Bernard High School. After graduation he was employed by Joyce Lumber Co. in Breda. In 1933 he became the Agent for Standard Oil Co. in Breda. He drove a tank truck and at that time very few country roads were graveled. In those days all farmers raised chickens and they had oil brooders and he would deliver kerosene to them in the spring just as the frost was coming out of the ground. The roads were terrible but customers would help him out and wouldn’t take any compensation. Mr. Fee always said that the best people in the nation lived in the mid-west. In 1945 he and his brother-in-law, Ed Polking purchased the Breda Oil Company. Mr. Fee drove the tank truck for the company until his retirement in 1973. He was a member of the Breda Fire Department for many years and served as Assistant Chief to his brother Frank Fee. He was also a member of St. Bernard Parish, Breda Catholic Order of Foresters, served on the Breda City Council, and was President of the Breda Business Men’s Club. On June 7, 1932, he was married to Juliana Polking at St. Bernard Church in the first marriage ceremony performed by Father Bernard Eischeid. The couple made their home and raised their family in Breda. Survivors include his children, Dr. Phillip Fee and his wife Wilma of Santa Maria, Calif., Janet Dethlefsen of Breda, Dr. Paul Fee and his wife Jenny of Sioux City, Virginia Schweers and her husband Dale of Arcadia, and Dr. Bruce Fee and his wife Debbie of Charlotte, North Carolina; 16 grandchildren; 31 great grandchildren; 3 great great grandsons; and sisters-in-law, Agnes Polking of Breda, Felicitas Polking of Carroll, and Doreen Polking of Breda. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Juliana Fee, in 1999; a great grandson, Lucas Schweers; daughters-in-law, Lettie Fee and Janet Fee; a son-in-law, Richard Dethlefson; brothers, Frank and Edgar Fee; and sisters, Marie Bohnenkamp, Ione Ulveling, Nellie Ricke, Mildred Brinker, and a sister, Querine Fee, in infancy. This obituary was written by Walter Fee.