Warren Robert Garrels

WARREN ROBERT GARRELS

Mount Pleasant

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

The funeral service for Warren was 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 18, at First United Methodist Church, 309 N. Main St., Mount Pleasant. Pastor Luann Benge officiated. Burial was in Forest Home Cemetery in Mount Pleasant. Friends called on Tuesday at the Kimzey Funeral Home.

Memorials are to the First United Methodist Church or the American Quarter Horse Association. Online condolences may be left at www.kimzeyfuneralhome.com.

Warren 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 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. She died May 8, 2018, at the University Hospitals in Iowa City.

Warren was a lifelong farmer, primarily with grain 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 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 children, granddaughters and great-grandchildren.

Those thankful for sharing in Warren's life include 2 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, Jordy and Tyler Dingman, and Karley and Damien Dawson; six great-grandchildren, Anders and Kendall Horn, Lucy and Logan Dingman, and Demi and Owen Dawson; a brother and his wife, Richard and Elizabeth 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; three brothers, Floyd, Clifford and Stan Garrels; and two sisters, Charlotte (Clyde) Summers and Ruth Ann Peterson, all precede Warren in death.