Dick Barkema Jr., 95, of Goodell, passed away Sunday, July 25, 2021 at the Iowa Specialty Hospital in Belmond. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM on Friday, July 30, 2021 at the United Methodist Church in Goodell with Pastor Deb Devine officiating. Burial will take place at Amsterdam Cemetery in Goodell. Visitation will be held from 5:00 – 7:00 PM on Thursday, July 29, 2021 at Ewing Funeral Home, 111 Luick's Lane South in Belmond. Dick was born March 8th, 1926, on the family farm, the ninth child of Dick and Minnie (Pals) Barkema. He was baptized in the Immanuel Reformed Church. He received his education at Pleasant Township District #2 school, where he attended through the 8th grade. He still had a certificate from 1937 that he received for 150 perfect spelling lessons. He worked on the family farm until he was 18. He also worked for his brother, Lambert, on his farm. Dick enlisted in the United States Army in 1946 and served in Japan with the 2nd Squadron, 5th Cavalry Regiment. He was honorably discharged in 1948. His discharge papers described his civilian occupation as "Farmer: Cultivated the ground, planted seeds and harvested crops." After his discharge, he worked on his brother, Ben's, farm where he met his future wife. He did custom hay baling and worked for a time at Rath packing plant in Waterloo. He enjoyed playing softball. He played on a team while in the army and played for Elliot's Hardware in Belmond. He liked to talk about one game where he hit two homeruns and they won the game. Dick was united in marriage to Catherine Halfpop on September 26th, 1953, at the EUB church in Goodell. They moved to a farm west of Goodell where he made his living for 65 years as a crop and livestock farmer. In 1960, he was awarded Iowa Master Swine Producer. Dick volunteered many years on the Goodell Fire Department and served as a member of the Belmond Community School Board. After retirement, Dick and Catherine enjoyed spending summers in Walker, Minnesota and warm winters in Apache Junction, Arizona. His hobby in later years was going to farm auctions and coming home with a load of "miscellaneous." In 2018, he moved to The Meadows Assisted Living in Clarion, Iowa. It was a big adjustment for him, but he made many friends and was well cared for. While in hospice care last week at Iowa Specialty, the hospice chaplain and Dick's children surrounded him to say the Lord's Prayer. Although Dick had spoken very little during this time, he recited the prayer with his family word for word. Dick's faith was strong, his love for his family even stronger. "And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Corinthians 13:13 Dick is survived by his four children: Barbara Schaefer (Tina), Keith (Sharon) Barkema, Mark (Nancy) Barkema, and Dick A. (Sarah) Barkema; eleven grandchildren: Lisa (Kyle) Barkema, Tim (Trisha) Tegland, Mindy (Pete) Dahlstrom, Marcus (Josie) Barkema, Michelle (Dylan) Braly, Amanda, Casandra, and Taylor Barkema, Matt, Nick, and Emily Martinson; eleven great-grandchildren: Tate, Tess, Thad, Maile, Jacob, Joey, Weston, Joslyn, Riley, Kaelynn, and Lily; and two brothers-in-law Bernard Halfpop and Herman Suntken. He was preceded in death by his wife Catherine; granddaughters Megan Ann and Marissa Sue Barkema; his parents; and nine brothers and sisters.