Richard Earl Mielke

Richard Earl “Dick” Mielke, the son of Earl C. and Ada (McCauley) Mielke, was born September 12, 1933, in Sioux City, Iowa. Dick graduated from East High School in Sioux City in 1951 and from Iowa State University in 1959 with a degree in Business Administration. He served his country in the U.S. Army during the Korean War from 1953 through 1955.

Dick was united in marriage to Shirley Anne Bunten on May 31, 1953, in Sioux City, Iowa. They were blessed with two children, Sherry and Karen.

Dick went to work in the Purchasing Department of the Maytag Company right out of college in 1959. He ended his career as the Director of Maintenance Purchasing after 37 ½ years, retiring in 1996. Dick was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Maytag Management Club, the Purchasing Association of Central Iowa, the American Cancer Society, and the Izaak Walton League. He served as an officer and board member of all these organizations.

He wished to be remembered as a servant to his Church. Dick served as an Elder and Deacon two times each and was Clerk of Session for 13 years. He taught Sunday School, was the chairman of the ice cream social for six years, was in the Mariners Club, and could usually be found in the kitchen washing dishes or pots and pans after many church functions. He went on two church medical missions to El Salvador and participated for 14 years in church-sponsored work-week trips with the youth and adults doing mission work.

Dick and Shirley attended Iowa State Cyclone football games for 30 years and were avid fans thereafter. He loved to hunt both pheasants and mushrooms, and enjoyed golfing, reading, dancing, skiing in Colorado, and playing poker with six friends in a poker club.

After retirement, he was a school bus driver for 20 years. Dick and Shirley traveled for 11 years overseas and wintered in Arizona for 20 years. They loved their time in Arizona and made many wonderful friendships.

Dick enjoyed doing things with his family, especially being with and seeing his great grandchildren grow up.

Dick passed away at the age of 91 on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, in Des Moines. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife Shirley Anne Mielke; daughter Sherry Lee Defenbaugh; granddaughter Mercedes Wathen; grandson-in-law Sam Batterson; his half-brother Donald O’Neal and sister-in-law Geneva O’Neal.

Those left to honor Dick’s memory are his daughter Karen Wathen of Newton; son-in-law Dan (Cindy) Defenbaugh; his three grandchildren Kim Batterson of West Des Moines, Danielle (Billy) Roush of Newton, Blake Wathen (Nyckolle Bisom) of Newton, and Thomas Phanphasy; six great-grandchildren Olivia and Jaxon Batterson, Athena and Ezekiel Phanphasy, Kayden Roush, Damon Wathen and many extended family and friends.

Memorial services for Dick are scheduled for Monday, February 17, 2025, 1:00 p.m. at the Pence-Reese Funeral Home in Newton, Iowa. The family will greet guests at the funeral home on Monday one hour prior to services from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. There will be a livestream of the service on the Pence-Reese Facebook page.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Dick’s name to the American Heart Association or the Cancer Research Foundation. Please make checks payable to Karen Wathen.