Earl Brandt

IRETON, IOWA- Earl W. Brandt, 93, of Hawarden, formerly of rural Ireton, Iowa, died Saturday, August 24, 2013 at the Hillcrest Health Care Center in Hawarden.
Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Ireton with Rev. Todd Bunge officiating. Burial will follow in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery. Visitation will begin at noon Friday, with the family present beginning at 5:00 p.m. and a prayer service at 7:00 p.m. at St. Paul's Lutheran Church. The Porter Funeral Home in Ireton is assisting the family. Mr. Brandt's family prefers memorials to LCMS World Missions through Mission Central in Mapleton, Iowa.
Born February 15, 1920, in Primghar, Iowa, Earl William Brandt was the son of William and Mary (Steuck) Brandt. He was baptized on March 7, 1920 in Center Township, O'Brien County and confirmed on May 20, 1934 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Hartley, Iowa. He graduated from Hartley High School on May 27, 1937. He worked at various jobs while living with and helping on the family farm near Primghar in Center Township. He entered military service in August 1942, serving in England from July 1943 to October 1945 with the 8th Army Air Force as a radio technician in the 355th Fighter Group. After his discharge he returned home and worked at the carpenter trade until 1948.
On May 1, 1947 he married Leona Margaret Hagge in Ireton, Iowa. On March 1, 1948 they moved to a farm west of Ireton where they raised their 5 children. Leona passed away on July 1, 1984. On August 16, 1987 Earl married Dorothy M. Crouch at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Ireton and they resided at the Brandt farm west of Ireton. Dorothy passed away on April 6, 1992.
He was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Ireton where he served in various offices and committees. Earl generously supported LCMS universities and seminaries and the adopt-a-student program at the St. Louis and Ft. Wayne seminaries. Through Mission Central of Mapleton, Iowa, Earl supported numerous missionaries over the years.
He is survived by three sons and their wives, Rev. Ed and Eileen Brandt of Meridian, Idaho, Martin and Yasuko Brandt of San Diego, California, and Rev. David and Bridget Brandt of Grinnell, Iowa; two daughters, Mary Brandt of Sioux Falls, South Dakota and Arlene and Bob Jenson of Watertown, South Dakota; seven grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; three nieces; and other relatives and friends.
Earl was preceded in death by his parents; his two wives; and a sister, Clara Paulson of Prescott Valley, Arizona.