Gary L. Wadle

Services for Gary Wadle, 71, will be Saturday, August 21, 2021, at 1:00 p.m. at the Pierschbacher Funeral Home in Milo. Family will receive friends on Friday, August 20, 2021, from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m. at the Pierschbacher Funeral Home in Milo. Interment will be at St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Lacona at a later date. You may join Gary’s family via livestream at https://my.gather.app/remember/gary-wadle.

Memorials may be made in care of Gary’s family.

Gary Louis Wadle was born on August 5, 1950, in Oskaloosa, Iowa to Glen and Kathryn (VanderLinden) Wadle. The family lived in Knoxville until Gary was 8 then moved outside of Milo. He grew up on the family farm, helping along with his 5 siblings. A memory his siblings have from growing up, at the age of 15, he traded a horse for a dirt bike. He and Lester at Halloween would take people’s outhouses to be ornery. They once tied a dairy cow up at the Liberty Center Park as a joke.

He attended Southeast Warren and graduated in 1969. After high school in 1970, he enlisted in the Army where he served two years. He married the love of his life, Diane Johnson, on June 12, 1976, in Warren County. Together they raised five sons: Matt, Adam, Tom, Andy, and Mike.

Gary worked for Swift and EFCO and really enjoyed working with his son, Adam, pouring concrete and cutting trees. Gary was the best shade tree mechanic, and even if not fixed correctly, he would make things run. He was a great father, always making sure to hug and kiss his kids every night. Always a jokester, he loved harassing his grandchildren the most. He loved time with family and liked to have everyone over for dinners. Gary and Diane liked to cook for everyone and if you went away hungry, it was your own fault. Diane and Gary would often cook huge breakfasts for the family. Every year before school started, they would take a canoe trip down the Raccoon River. When they would go canoeing at Raccoon River, he even cooked breakfast on the sandbar. The family would tell you they remember those scrambled eggs being a bit sandy.

Gary passed away August 16, 2021, at home surrounded by his family. He is survived by his wife of 45 years, Diane Wadle; children: Matt (Kristen) Wadle, Adam (Randi) Wadle, daughter-in-law Melissa Wadle, Andy (Kesha) Wadle, and Mike (Michelle Rheuport) Wadle; and grandchildren: Taylor Wadle, Jeffrey Wadle, Rylee Wadle, Shelbi Wadle, Geneva Wadle, Maddison Wadle, Austin Wadle, Cheyenne Wadle, Tiffany Wadle, Jade Wadle, Allison Rheuport, and Emma Rheuport; along with siblings: Nancy Fuller, Anita Klein, Mary Richards, Kathie Chaplin, and James Wadle.

Gary was preceded in death by his parents, Glen and Kathryn Wadle; and son, Tom Wadle.