Funeral Services will be at 10:00AM on Thursday, April 18, 2024, at the Lakes United Methodist Church in Lake View, IA. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, April 17, from 4:00-7:00PM at the Farber & Otteman Funeral Home in Wall Lake. Burial will be in the Wall Lake Cemetery. Farber & Otteman Funeral Home of Wall Lake has been entrusted to care for Leroy and his family.
Leroy Bieret, age 84 of Wall Lake, IA, passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at Twilight Acres Nursing Home in Wall Lake. Leroy Henry Bieret was born on September 14, 1939, to parents Mike and Rena (Peters) Bieret in Carroll, IA. He was baptized and confirmed at the Wheatland Presbyterian Church in rural Breda, IA. Leroy grew up on the family farm just south of Wall Lake and attended country school through the eighth grade. He graduated from Wall Lake High School with the class of 1957. Leroy continued to farm alongside his dad right out of high school.
On April 22, 1962, Leroy married the love of his life, Reva Dee Aiken, at The Little Brown Church in Nashua, IA. This union was blessed with three children, Gloria, Diane, and Kevin. They raised their family on the same farm Leroy grew up on before moving to town where they would live together before moving to Twilight Acres.
Leroy loved the farm life. Caring for all the dairy cows and tending to the land was something he thoroughly enjoyed. He could be found driving around the countryside with his dog on the passenger side, checking everything out on a daily basis; that usually included several stops to visit with others, as he never met a stranger. He was sure to keep up on area happenings and was always one to help others out. Leroy was a very simple, humble man. He didn’t need or want fancy things, didn’t like change, and was intent on doing things his own way.
Leroy really enjoyed following area sports and often times attended games whether or not he knew anyone playing. He was also an Iowa Hawkeye fan. If there was a game on TV, staff at Twilight Acres knew to take his supper to his room as nothing was going to interfere with him watching the game. He of course cheered the loudest for his grandchildren when he attended their events, as he was their biggest fan. Along with watching sports on TV, he rarely missed The Lawrence Welk Show or Billy Graham when he had a show on the air. Leroy LOVED Polka music and played it very regularly…it always brought a smile to his face.
There are a lot of memories to be shared and stories to be told of Leroy, like the time he fell asleep while he was supposed to be watching the gate so the cows didn’t get out and he awoke to a very large steer in his face staring him down; or the time he lost one of his shoes in the auger and continued to work the rest of the day with just one shoe on. He was a one of kind guy, for sure. His heart was huge and as mentioned above, he helped a lot of people throughout his lifetime.
Leroy and Reva traveled to many different places later on in their marriage including Alaska, Branson, MO, and Arizona, just to name a few. They enjoyed these trips together. Every year the two of them attended the Clay County Fair in Spencer, IA. Leroy and Reva rarely missed church. They initially attended Wheatland Presbyterian Church, where Leroy ushered and was a board member of the Wheatland Men’s Club, before switching to Lakes United Methodist in Lake View.
Leroy loved his family, his community, and the Lord with all of his heart. He will be missed dearly by all who knew and loved him.
Survivors include his children, Dr. Gloria Bieret (Matt Cotant) of Coralville, IA, Diane (Chris) Kenney of Anamosa, IA, and Kevin (Shari) Bieret of Wall Lake, IA; grandchildren: Tim Engel (Margo Walz), Tyler (Chelsea) Engel, Tara (Levi) Bergmann, Trenda (Danny) Secrist, Amber (Levi) Dosland, Chelsey, Madison, and Chloe Bieret; great-grandchildren: Grace, Abram, Rayna, Dakota, Delilah, Leila, Benson, and Knox; brother George Bieret of Wall Lake, IA; sisters Darlene Lundberg and Lucille Geake both of Wall Lake, IA; brother-in-law Bob Aiken of Papillion, NE; sister-in-law Norma Bieret of Wall Lake, IA; many nieces, nephews, other extended family members and friends.
Leroy was preceded in death by his wife, Reva Bieret; parents Mike and Rena Bieret; brother Paul Bieret; parents-in-law Rodney and Ruth Aiken; sisters-in-law Mary Lou Aiken, Athene (Ed) Dow, Arial (LeRoy) Lauver, Vesta (Alvin) McCurday, Mabel Aiken, and Lavonne Bieret; brothers-in-law Willis “Bud” Lundberg and Bill Geake.
