Pete K Leuwerke

Pete Leuwerke, 90, of Britt went home to the Lord on April 30, 2017 at Hancock County Memorial Hospital in Britt with family at his side.

Funeral services Pete Leuwerke will be held on Friday, May 5, 2017 at 10:30 AM at the Britt Christian Reformed Church - At The Crossroads Ministries, 569 Main Avenue North in Britt, with Pastor Joel DeBoer officiating.  Burial will be in Evergreen Cemetery in Britt.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, May 4, 2017 from 5:00 – 7:00 PM at the Britt Christian Reformed Church – At The Crossroads Ministries and will continue one hour prior to services at the church on Friday.

Pete K. Leuwerke, son of Peter and Grace (Smit) Leuwerke was born on October 26, 1926 on a farm by Ellendale, Minnesota weighing less than three pounds. He was placed in a shoebox and kept on the oven door to keep warm. At the age of three, his family moved to Crystal Valley near Crystal Lake, Iowa. Pete attended school in Hayfield until ninth grade when he left to help on the family potato farm. Starting school, Pete spoke only Dutch and as he learned English, he would then teach his parents.

On April 16, 1947 he was united in marriage to Doris Limberg at the Woden Christian Reformed Church. He and Doris farmed together for sixty-five years all within one mile of the home place. He retired from farming at the age of eighty-five. In 1989, they moved to Crystal Lake and established and operated Leuwerke’s Corner Café. The couple later retired and moved to Britt.

Pete was a lifelong member of the Christian Reformed Church attending the Woden CRC where he met Doris. In 1955, along with Doris and seven other couples, they established the Britt Christian Reformed Church, where he remained a faithful attending member having served as deacon, elder, and Sunday School teacher.

Along with farming, he served on many boards including: Hayfield School Board, Production Credit Association, Forest City and Crystal Lake Elevator Boards, Crystal Lake City Council, Ag Museum Board at the Britt fairgrounds, and many, many years on the Hancock County Conservation Board.

One of his favorite pastimes was traveling and camping with his family and later he and Doris, including a six week trip through Canada and Alaska with a pickup and topper, several winters in Texas, and a trip to Holland.

He also enjoyed woodworking, which he started later in life, and he made many beautiful things for his family ensuring that each of his grandchildren had a wooden rocking horse to enjoy and pass down to their children.

He was an avid collector of all things. He and Doris attended auctions, hunting for treasures, and he loved his Maytag engines, antique tractors, and toy tractor collections. He shared his knowledge and love of antiques, farming, and faith with anyone who stopped at his building in Crystal Lake.

Dearest to his heart was his family. Being Opa to his grandchildren and GoGo (Great Opa) to his great grandchildren was his life. He always had a story or joke to share and he was most happy when he had family gathered around him. His sense of humor, quiet smile, twinkling eyes, and strong faith will be sadly missed by all who knew him.

Left to cherish his memory is his loving wife of seventy years, Doris of Britt; children, Denny Leuwerke and fiancée Sue Hansen of Winterset, Ron (Beth) Leuwerke of Indianola, Arvella (Greg) Kent of Waterloo, Randy (Brenda) Leuwerke of Eldridge, Missouri, and LaRae (Dale) Haugland of Britt; fifteen grandchildren, twenty-nine great-grandchildren, and a sister Grace Schuver of Kanawha.

Welcoming him home are his parents; his mother and father-in-law, Conrad and Marie Limberg; brother Curt (Bud) Leuwerke and his wife Mary; daughter-in-law Donna Leuwerke; special nephew Danny Leuwerke; and brother-in-law Billy Schuver.