Carl Walter Crooks, 85
Carl Walter Crooks, age 85 of Ionia, died Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023, at Linn Haven Rehab & Healthcare in New Hampton.
Funeral service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Hampton with the Rev. Kevin Frey presiding.
Interment will follow at New Hampton City Cemetery with Carl’s grandchildren serving as pallbearers.
Friends may greet the family from 3 to 7 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in New Hampton. Visitation continues an hour prior to the service on Tuesday at the church.
Carl was born on Oct. 6, 1937, to Walter and Hattie (Schmulach) Crooks on the family farm, where he grew up with his brother and three sisters.
He attended school in Ionia and graduated with the Class of 1956 at Ionia High School while helping his parents on their farm.
He went to the Riviera Ballroom in Janesville one night and met Shirley Hirsch. They were married on April 22, 1960, at the Stapleton Lutheran Church, just before Carl enlisted in the U.S. Army. He served his country for two years and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas, where the Crooks’ oldest child, Richard, was born, and at Fort Benning, Georgia, where they welcomed Shelley to the family.
After receiving his honorable discharge, Carl and his growing family moved to Ionia, a mile from his parents. Debra was born in Charles City while living here. They then moved to Waverly where he worked construction before taking a job at Carnation, which would later become Nestle’s. They completed their family with the birth of Michael while living there.
The four Crooks’ kids had a father with a very strong work ethic, for Carl not only worked for 30 years at Carnation but he also bought the family farm in 1973 and moved to rural Ionia. It later became a Century Farm. He farmed the land and enjoyed raising a variety of livestock throughout the years.
Yet, Carl always found time to have fun. The Crooks went camping, dancing and played cards in their two card clubs — one in Waverly and the other the neighborhood group for over 30 years.
Carl retired from Nestle’s in 1998, but he and Shirley farmed for 15 more years. Even after he retired, he still loved helping out on the farm.
He had so many interests and his life was one adventure after another. There are the stories of camping, fishing, deer hunting, his trips to Le Sueur to the annual swap meet, snowmobiling in Wyoming, to name a few.
In retirement, Carl’s passions were attending his grandchildren’s sporting events. He and Shirley loved to socialize with family and many great friends they made throughout the years. He collected and restored many Farmall and John Deere tractors, but his favorites were his Oliver’s.
Carl was, in short, a hard worker but one who also had a fun zest for life, and all of us are going to miss him dearly. But then again, all those “Carl stories” have created memories that will last a lifetime for those he has left behind.
Carl is survived by two sons, Richard (Sherry) Crooks of Ionia, and Mike (Karen) Crooks of Ionia; two daughters, Shelley (Stephen) Stalder of New Hampton, and Debra (John) Mihm of Lawler; 11 grandchildren, Carlie (Dominic) Samec of New Hampton, Ryan Crooks of Ionia, Kayla Crooks of Ionia, Jeremy (Megan) Schaufenbuel of New Hampton, Jamie (Ryan) Steege of Fredericksburg, Kevin Stalder of Ottumwa, Connor Mihm of Boyd, Callie (Isaac) Hover of Cresco, Rebecca (Colton) Meirick of Elma, Megan (Trevor) Fecht of Allison, and Jessie Rose (Cole) Denner of Ionia; 12 great-grandchildren; one sister, Martha Mannetter of Charles City; and one sister-in-law, Kathy Crooks of Charles City.
He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Shirley on Feb. 1, 2019; one brother, Larry Crooks; two sisters, Geraldine (Bill) Marsrow, Anna Mae (Harley) Bergmann.
