Earl Richard Schelm
1912-2020
Earl Richard Schelm was born January 20, 1912, on the family farm north of Ute, Iowa, on a very cold day. His parents were Ferdinand & Estella Robb Schelm. He was the middle of three sons. He went to Heaven on February 19, 2020.
He was baptized & confirmed by Rev. Amstein at St. John Lutheran Church in Charter Oak, Iowa. He joined the Boy Scouts when it was first being organized & graduated from Charter Oak high school in 1929. He attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln majoring in architecture until the depression when he returned home to help with farming.
In 1939 he married Irene Blanche Gardner at Kountze Memorial Lutheran Church in Omaha, Nebraska. They were blessed with two daughters. He raised black angus cattle and enjoyed farming his entire life. He was a member of the Mapleton school board for 12 years. After retiring he & Irene spent their winters at their home in Sun City West, Arizona.
He is survived by two daughters, Jean & husband Richard Abrahamson of Edmond, Oklahoma, & Evelyn Shawver of Des Moines, Iowa, two granddaughters, Lisa & husband John Arne Wang of New York City & Amanda Murphy & partner Mark Beck of Bellevue, Nebraska, & two great granddaughters Olivia & Isabella Wang of New York City.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Irene, his parents, two brothers George & Edward, his grandson Stephen Abrahamson, his niece Marilyn Bretthauer & nephew Edward Schelm, Jr.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, March 14, at 10:30 am at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Mapleton of which he was a member.