Henry Carl “Hank” Geilenfeld was born on September 1, 1922 in Algona, Iowa, the son of Carl and Martha (Dreyer) Geilenfeld. He grew up on the family farm and graduated from AlgonaHigh School in 1942. He was the first State Champion Wrestler from Algona and he also lettered in football. On April 5, 1945 he was united in marriage to Maybelle Christine Kenne at the St. Cecilia Rectory in Algona.
Right after high school he began to work for McCullough Funeral Home in Algona. Later, while still working for Bob McCullough, he graduated from St. Louis School of Mortuary Science in St. Louis, Missouri. He worked there until Bob’s retirement then he and Michael Schaaf bought the funeral home together. In 1984 he retired.
Hank loved to ride motor cycles and covered forty-nine states riding his bike with Maybelle. He also enjoyed bowling, he had the first seven hundred series in Algona and his average was always around or over two hundred, he played and pitched softball until he was sixty-two, pitched horseshoe and played cards and board games. But his greatest love and enjoyment was his family. He was always there for what ever was going on with the boys or with Maybelle.
He is survived by his two sons, Charles and his wife, Barbara of Oelwein, Iowa and Michael of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Three grandchildren, Kelly Jo Rundquist of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Chuckie and his wife, Cristy Geilenfeld of Urbandale, Iowa and Jillian and her husband, Michael Austin of Adel, Iowa, eight great grandchildren, April, Kodi, Paul, Katie, Addison, Lexi, Tori and Ella. He was preceded in death by his wife, Maybelle (July 14, 2003), two sisters, Alice Donahue and Esther Brunsvold and his parents, Carl and Martha.
Hank was a member of the TrinityLutheranChurch in Algona, Iowa Funeral Directors Association and the Algona Fire Department for twenty-five years. He was very good at helping people in a time of need, he was the kindest and most giving person I knew and touched many lives. He will be dearly missed by all who knew him especially his family.
There will be a visitation in Oelwein on Friday, January 1, 2010 at the Geilenfeld Funeral Chapel from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm and a visitation in Algona, Iowa on Sunday, January 3, 2010 from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Oakcrest Funeral Home. The services will be at 10:30 am on Monday, January 4, 2010 at TrinityLutheranChurch in Algona with burial at CalvaryCemetery.
A memorial fund has been established to go to the Grandview Healthcare Center Alzheimer’s Unit
