Alfred George Wede, the son of Albert August and Lydia Amanda Kiesel Wede, was born March 13, 1928, in Des Plains, Illinois, and went to be with the Lord on Saturday, September 16th, 2023.
He attended school in Illinois until 1942, when he moved to Shelby, Iowa, where he was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. He was raised along with his brothers, Ernest, William, and Raymond Wede. In 1943, he began working in Avoca, Iowa, cleaning car parts and ran the local town theatre until midnight to help support his family.
In 1958, he met the love of his life, Genevieve Grace Doonan, at the Ford dealership, whom he married on March 28th, 1958, in the First Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska, with parents and friends in attendance. They lived in Harlan, Iowa, and were members of Saint Emmanuel Lutheran Church, where 2 of his children were baptized. He worked for Rocker Ford until he relocated to Atlantic, Iowa, in 1963, where he and his family became faithful members of Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
In Atlantic, he enjoyed employment at Deter Motors for over 25 years. While with Deters, he achieved one of his proudest moments earning a membership in the General Motors “Only the Best” Club. Also, during this time, he selfishly helped the community, as well as those traveling by who found themselves stranded with automotive issues, to make sure they safely continued on with their journey. He was a true entrepreneur and owned several family businesses. As if that was not enough, Al was often seen around town mowing lawns and tilling gardens in his spare time.
Upon his “retirement”, Al started the next chapter of his life working for Pellet’s and then began managing Olive Street Station. After that, he became the Greeter at Walmart for 11 years. As a result of his years of service with the community, on May 11th, 2015, he was presented with an Honorary Diploma from Atlantic High School.
Al always enjoyed hard work and Sunday’s visiting with family throughout the surrounding towns. In his younger days, he found enjoyment in riding the train from Shelby to Des Moines and back. Throughout the years, he loved racing and restoring cars, flying Cessna’s, and watching NASCAR and University of Iowa Football. He had a sweet tooth, loved donuts, and especially his mom’s banana cream pie. He was a devoted husband to Gen and father to Al “Sonny” Jr., Nancy, Rod, and Scott. He especially adored his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Preceding him in death were his sons: “Sonny” Wede, and Charles Wede; his sisters in laws: Betty Wede, Audrie Wede, and Linda Basford; his brothers, Ernest Wede, Willam Wede, Raymond Wede; his parents, Albert and Lydia Wede; his mother and father-in-law; Alice and Wilford Doonan; as well as his nieces Connie Johnson, Sheila Rudolph and nephew Mark Wede.
Survivors include his devoted wife Genevieve Wede of Atlantic, Iowa; daughter Nancy and husband Tim Templeman of Atlantic, Iowa; sons Rod Wede of McKinney, Texas; Scott and wife Jill Wede of Lantana Texas; grandchildren, Branden and wife Kristina Kemp of Omaha, Nebraska, Trevor Templeman and wife Kari Vrban of Iowa City, Iowa; Justin Templeman and fiancé Tara Cooley of Anita, Iowa and Blake Wede and girlfriend Emerson Sujack of McKinney, Texas; Great grandchildren, Rigby Templeman, Lily Vanderlinden, Owen Vanderlinden, Madison Kemp, and Eden Templeman; as well as several nieces, nephews, other relatives, and family.
The family would like to thank the teams at Cass County Memorial Hospital and The Heritage House for taking such great care of Dad.
Memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 23, 2023, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Atlantic, with a luncheon to follow in the church reception hall. Pastor Lauri Boysen will be officiating the service. Visitation will take place one hour prior to the service held at the church on Saturday.
In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be directed to the Al Wede family to be designated later and mailed to the Schmidt Family Funeral Home P.O. Box 523, Atlantic, Iowa 50022.
Arrangements are handled with the Schmidt Family Funeral Home of Atlantic, IA.
