Warren R. Garrels

WARREN R. GARRELS

Mount Pleasant

Warren R. Garrels, Mount Pleasant, died Friday, March 13, 2020, at Sunnybrook Assisted Living in Mount Pleasant.

The funeral service for Warren will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 18, at the First United Methodist Church, 309 N. Main St., Mount Pleasant. The Rev. David Bracht-Wagner will officiate. Burial will be in the Forest Home Cemetery, Mount Pleasant. Friends may call from noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Kimzey Funeral Home. The family will be present to receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m.

Those considering an expression of sympathy may direct memorials to the First United Methodist Church or the American Quarter Horse Association. Online condolences may be left at www.kimzeyfuneralhome.com.

Warren Robert Garrels was born April 6, 1936, at the family home, rural Henry County. He was the son of Elmer Stanley and Wilma Florence (Beattie) Garrels. He attended Pleasant Lawn School through the eighth grade and graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in 1954. On Aug. 30, 1959, at Elliott Lunning Chapel in Burlington, Warren married the love of his life, Barbara Ann (Hill) Garrels. Ann died May 8, 2018, at the University Hospitals in Iowa City.

Warren was a lifelong farmer, primarily with cattle and hogs. Beginning with his reining horse "Flash," Warren began a long career in Quarter Horse breeding. He established Iris Quarter Horses, which was known and respected countrywide. His horses were frequent winners on dirt track and at county fairs as well as winning prestigious races at Prairie Meadows in Des Moines. Warren was a member of the Iowa Quarter Horse Association and Legacy Breeder with the National Quarter Horse Association. For registering a colt every year for 50 years, Warren was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame.

Warren was an enrolled member of the former Beulah Methodist Church. After Beulah Church's closing, he became a member of First United Methodist Church. During part of his working years, Warren was a member of the U.S. Iowa National guard. He enjoyed playing in several card groups. As a motorcycle enthusiast, he and Barbara loved the "Poker Runs" until he settled into riding Goldwing motorcycles. They loved to travel, making trips out west for Cheyenne Frontier days and many other trips and cruises which took them around the country and locations around the world. Dear to their hearts were the countless hours they spent to attend events involving their daughters, granddaughters and great-grandchildren.

Those thankful for sharing in Warren's life include two daughters and their husbands, Kerry and Craig Voelker, and Kendra and Jerry Ruschill, all of Mount Pleasant; three granddaughters and their husbands, Jerilyn and Tyler Horn, Jordand & Tyler Dingman and Karley and Damen Dawson; six great-grandchildren, Anders and Kendall Horn, Lucy and Logan Dingman and Demi and Owen Dawson; a brother and his wife, Richard and Liz Garrels of Mount Pleasant; a brother-in-law, David Peterson of Storm Lake, Iowa; and a host of nieces and nephews and their families.

His parents, wife, a son, Scott Garrels, two brothers, Floyd and Clifford Garrels and two sisters, Charlotte (Clyde "Sam") Summers and Ruth Ann Peterson, precede Warren in death.