![\"\"](\"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Kenneth-Mittelstadt-Headshot-212x300.jpeg\")
Kenneth Edwin Mittelstadt (more fondly known as Kenny) was born at home in West Union, IA, on May 9, 1943, to Edwin & Verla (Kinsel) Mittelstadt. Delivered by old Doc Carr, with Grandma Mittelstadt and tiny Aunt Edith Wander in attendance at his birth, Kenny\u2019s first squawk alerted everyone in the room that there was a new kid in town. And he had things to say.<\/p>\n
To say that Kenny was a born conversationalist was an understatement. He could, as he liked to say, \u201ctalk the ears right off a snake\u201d and, wherever he went, he left a new crop of friends in his wake.<\/p>\n
Kenny grew up in West Union, and later Eldorado, IA, with his older sister Linda Lou and younger brother Wayne Robert, where he enjoyed building forts, fishing, hunting small game, and spending time at Grandpa & Grandma Mittelstadt\u2019s farm. He particularly loved taking languid canoe trips down various northeast Iowa rivers with his intrepid & adventurous buddies, cementing what would become his lifelong love of nature and all things outdoors.<\/p>\n
Another strand of Kenny\u2019s DNA was \u201ctinkering.\u201d\u00a0 He spent innumerable hours at the knees of his dad Eddie, who not only owned Eddie\u2019s Garage in Eldorado back in the day, but in whose very bloodstream ran a natural talent and burning desire just to know what made things tick. From building Kenny\u2019s childhood pedal car (which ironically did not have pedals) \u2026 to rebuilding a\u201940 Chevy when Kenny was fifteen\u2026 to countless other building projects spanning the years\u2026 Eddie sparked a certain brand of ingenuity in his son that has happily been passed on down through the gene pool.<\/p>\n
Kenny graduated from North Fayette High School in West Union in 1961. He joined the United States Marine Corps following graduation, serving in Vietnam. He attained the rank of Sergeant at the time of his discharge. Fiercely patriotic, Kenny was always proud of his service to his country, but quietly proud.<\/p>\n
Following his return from the Marines, Kenny moved to Cedar Rapids, where he worked for National Oats and then Quaker Oats, and began dating Kathryn Knudtson of Elgin, who was also working in Cedar Rapids at the time. They married in 1966 and moved to Eldorado where they became parents to two sons, Wade Alan, and Warren Kenneth. Kenny & Kathy later divorced, co-parented, and remained steadfast friends.<\/p>\n
Kenny worked many jobs over the years, but, unsurprisingly, the ones that brought him the most success involved sales. He was perhaps, in his day, Iowa\u2019s most beloved Schwan\u2019s Man, with his route in tiny Worth County, Iowa, garnering him not only top sales records, but true lifelong friends. He then worked in farm implement sales for Dierks & Steinbronn, Oelwein; sold small equipment for Diversified Distributors; and sold Farmhand grinder-mixers and WESTGO augers. The 1980\u2019s farm crisis occurred during this period, and he often spoke of the anguish and shame of removing equipment from dealers who could no longer maintain their inventory.<\/p>\n
In 1984, Kenny was working at a car dealership when Patti Johnson of West Union approached him about a new vehicle purchase. Ever the salesperson, Kenny rapidly sealed the car deal; the deal for a first date, however, took several months to close. On August 3, 1985, Kenny & Patti were married at The Little Brown Church in the Vale, Nashua, Iowa. They made their home in West Union until 1999, when they purchased a small acreage just south of Gunder, Iowa, where they moved in November 2000.<\/p>\n
Early in his life with Patti, Kenny tended bar in West Union, adding to his collection of friends. With dad Eddie\u2019s able assistance, he developed a retrofit for farm planter lids that allowed growers to use closed handling insecticide without replacing their planters, and a seasonal home-based business was born. This business, which Kenny named, \u201cMittelShop,\u201d grew and thrived, operating from December to May each year until 2018, leaving time for the important things in life:\u00a0 fishing, hunting, and time with Patti and the people he loved.<\/p>\n
A lifelong angler, hunter, and lover of the outdoors, Kenny\u2019s greatest sense of peace was felt whenever he found himself on a lake in Canada. His greatest joy was passing his deep love and appreciation of the outdoors on to his two sons. Watching his sons then continue that tradition with his grandchildren gave Kenny an immeasurable sense of pride. He had an uncanny knack for making strangers feel like friends, and making friends feel like family. Kenny loved deeply and fiercely, and, through the sunshine and storms and ebbs and flows of 37 years of marriage, he never failed to convey to Patti how much she was loved and cherished.<\/p>\n
On Friday, April 21, 2023, Kenny died at University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in Iowa City at age 79 \u2013 too soon for many, but the right time for Kenny.<\/p>\n
He is survived by his wife, Patti, of Gunder; son Wade (Carol) Mittelstadt of Bloomington, IL; son Warren Mittelstadt of West Union, IA; granddaughter Nicole Mittelstadt (Ryan Werner) of Las Vegas, NE; grandson Austin Mittelstadt of Nashville, TN; grandson Tucker Mittelstadt and granddaughter Addison Mittelstadt of West Union, IA; brother Wayne Mittelstadt of Cerritos, CA; five nieces & nephews; and several grandnieces & grandnephews.<\/p>\n
Kenny was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin & Verla Mittelstadt, and his sister, Linda Lou (Mittelstadt) Saunders.<\/p>\n
A Visitation will be held from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Friday, April 28, 2023 at Leonard-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service in Elgin, Iowa. There will also be a one hour visitation before services at the American Legion Hall in West Union, Iowa on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Memorial Service will be at 1:00 pm on Saturday, April 29, 2023 at the American Legion Hall in West Union, Iowa with Pastor Rusty Phillips as the officiant.<\/p>\n
Inurnment with Military Honors will follow at St. Peter Lutheran cemetery in Eldorado, Iowa.<\/p>\n
Friends & family are invited to again gather at the American Legion following the inurnment for a light meal, fellowship, and to share memories of Kenny.<\/p>\n
Leonard-Grau Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Elgin, Iowa is assisting the family with arrangements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kenneth Edwin Mittelstadt (more fondly known as Kenny) was born at home in West Union, IA, on May 9, 1943, to Edwin & Verla (Kinsel) Mittelstadt. Delivered by old Doc Carr, with Grandma Mittelstadt and tiny Aunt Edith Wander in attendance at his birth, Kenny\u2019s first squawk alerted everyone in the room that there was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1083],"class_list":["post-14618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries","tag-mittelstadt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14618"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14635,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14618\/revisions\/14635"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graufuneralhomes.com\/lab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}