Robert E. Appel

      Robert E. Appel, 75 of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, passed away Wednesday, December 20, 2000, in Mt. Pleasant.

      Visitation for Mr. Appel will be held on Saturday, December 23, at the Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel in Mt. Pleasant from 12 to 8 p.m. where the family will receive friends from 3 to 6 p.m. that afternoon. Friends may also sign the register from 9-12 a.m., at the Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel on Tuesday, December 26. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, December 26, at 2:00 p.m., at the Church of the Open Bible in Mt. Pleasant with Pastor Mike Johnson officiating. Burial will follow the service. Memorials have been established to the Church of the Open Bible and The Gideons International.

      Mr. Appel was born on May 15, 1925, in Winfield, Iowa, to Adam Franklin and Marietta Barclay Apple. He was raised in rural New London, Iowa, and graduated from New London High School in 1944. On June 14, 1953, he married Della Schultz in Sac City, Iowa. She survives.

      After high school he had a milk route in St. Louis. He continued delivering milk for Riverside Dairy and Kennedy Dairy in the Mt. Pleasant area. Mr. Appel delivered Mary Jane Bread and Sunbeam Bread for the Lowenberg Bakery. He was an insurance agent with the Metropolitan Insurance Company in Mt. Pleasant for 27 years and for the past 15 years has been an independent agent.

      Mr. Appel was a member of the Church of the Open Bible, The Gideons International, and the Mt. Pleasant evening Rotary Club where he was recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow. He had recently helped to gather medical equipment to send to Mexico for the club. He enjoyed gardening and made visiting with and helping people a priority. He was an R.S.V.P. volunteer and delivered Meals on Wheels.

      Mr. Appel is survived by his wife Della of Mt. Pleasant; two sons Robert (Peggy) Appel of Altoona, Iowa, and Scott (Ann) Appel of Littleton, Colorado; three daughters Denise (Ted) Whaley of Colorado Springs, Colorado; DeEtta (Timothy) Hughes of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and Susan (Jim) Sorenson of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. He is survived by 13 grandchildren Alana, Aaron, and Daniel Appel of Altoona, Iowa; Evan and Austin Appel of Littleton, Colorado; Erin, Olivia, and Lauren Whaley of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Tyler, Spencer and Conner Hughes of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and Parker and Brooke Sorenson of Mt. Pleasant. He is also survived by one brother Harold Apple of Burlington.

      He was preceded in death by his parents; one grandson Bobby Michael Appel; one brother John Apple; and six sisters Mary Lorene and Mildred Apple in infancy, Helen Harter-Bevil, Clara Widmer, Ruth Sands-Sovern, and Dorothy Frazier.