Memorial
Dale Wayne Wilken, Age 88, passed away at the Woodlands on Sunday, December 3, 2023, surrounded by his loving family.
A visitation will be held at the Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories on Saturday, December 9, 2023, from 1:30 PM until service time at 2:30 PM with the certified celebrant, Randy Walton, officiating.
Dale was born on September 12, 1935, in Fayette County, IA. He was the son of the late Gerd and Blanche (Spragg) Wilken. He was a graduate of Oelwein High School Class of 1955 where he excelled at football and wrestling. He served in the U. S. Army from 1958-1960. In 1960, he began working for Collins radio where he was employed for the next 32 years. On November 4, 1961, Dale married the love of his life, Joanne Hart.
Dale was a founding member of a Collins Radio Test Equipment poker group established in 1960 and continuing until 2020. He also was an avid player of cribbage and card games. He was a voracious reader and history buff and was a fountain of historical knowledge. This grew into his hobby of genealogy and Dale and Joanne traveled the country researching genealogy. He spent many years compiling an extensive, well documented family history going back several centuries. Dale never met anyone without offering to research their family tree. He was close to all of his siblings and he was an organizer and active participant of a large annual family reunion.
He was always smiling, never complained and never spoke ill of anyone. He will be greatly missed.
Those left to cherish Dale’s memory are his wife Joanne of Marion, IA; his children, Joyce (Craig) Brophy, of Cedar Rapids, IA and Richard “Dick” Wilken of Houston, TX; his grandchildren, Oscar (Samantha) Brophy, of Independence, IA, Nathan Wilken, of Houston, TX, Jacklyn (Tyler) Hendrickson, of The Woodlands, TX, Calvin (Cecily Linsenmeyer), of Burlington, VT, Lindsay (Byron Lynn) Wilken, of Galveston, TX, and Payton Brophy, of Waterloo, IA; his great-grandchildren, Olivia, Saige, Robert, Julius, Kennedy, and Emerson, his brothers-in-law, Walter Kraus, Jr., Harland Johnson, Sr., Harry Hart, sister-in-law Toni Wilken and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his siblings, Howard Wilken, Leonard Wilken, Robert Spragg, Sr., Luella Carpenter, Marjorie Senchina, Ruth Burke, and Helen Wessels, and several nieces and nephews.
Memorial Contributions may be made in his name to the Spragg Family Reunion or to the Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Association.
The family would like to thank Dr. Ann Soenen for her attentive, compassionate care. And his long time caregivers, Marcy Goebel and Avery Arnold for all the love and support shown to Dale while he was under their care.