Earl Bechtel
Born: March 12th, 1925
Died: October 10th, 2016
Obituary
Earl "Max" Bechtel, 91, of Burlington, died at 10:12 AM Monday, October 10, 2016, at the Great River Klein Center in West Burlington.
Born March 12, 1925, in Memphis, MO, he was the son of Charles and Florence Smith Bechtel. On November 16, 1942, he married Helen Conlee in Kahoka, MO. She died in October of 1976.
Max and Helen moved to Iowa in 1944, he worked as a hired hand for Dockendorf and Neil Wolfe. He also worked for Duke's Construction building the houses for the workers at the Ordnance Plant during the war. He worked a short time for the railroad. He drove for Benner Tea Company for ten years. He went to the Ordnance Plant working on the lines, grounds keeper, and guard, then retiring in the powerhouse. He loved doing word search puzzles. He also loved playing cards, and playing dominoes with family. He loved having his kids, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren around.
Survivors include his children, Linda (Fred) Hofmann of Burlington, Ronald (Barb) Bechtel of West Burlington, Marlene Jacobs, Regina Olomon, Gary Bechtel, Brenda (Kevin) Graham all of Burlington; 14 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; eight great-great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews.
Besides his wife, he was preceded in death by his parents, five brothers, three sisters, four nephews, four nieces, and his companion of thirty years, Carmen Guzman.
Visitation will be from 8:00 AM until 10:30 AM with the family to receive friends from 9:30 AM until 10:30 AM Saturday, October 15, 2016, at Prugh~Thielen Funeral Home.
The funeral service for Mr. Bechtel will be 10:30 AM Saturday, October 15, 2016, at Prugh~Thielen Funeral Home with Chaplain David Plooster officiating. Burial will be in Aspen Grove Cemetery. A time of food and fellowship will be held in the community room at Prugh~Thielen Funeral Home following the burial.