Joseph Kral

Joe Kral of Vail, Iowa, was born into his eternal life on Saturday, January 3rd, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines at the age of seventy years after his second battle with cancer.

Joe was born on Feb. 20th, 1944, the youngest of six children to Harry and Helen Kral. He was born in Milford Township Section 15, moving to the current family farm location Section 12 in 1952 at the age of 8, and spending his last 62 years on the farm. He was very proud of spending his life rooted within a half mile of his great-grandfather Joseph’s original Section 11 Milford township homestead from 1896, and chose to be buried near the farm at King’s Cemetery, also in Section 11.

After graduating high school, he joined the Army National Guard, going through basic combat training at Fort Ord in California in 1967. He received honorary medical discharge after suffering serious injuries in a car accident near Schleswig, Iowa in 1968. Joe always had a love of the land, and he knew in his heart that he was a farmer and returned to Vail to take over the farm. In his young adult years, he enjoyed spending time at numerous dances held at the Five Mile House south of Westside, Iowa where he met and fell in love with his soul mate Carol. They were united in marriage on August 16th, 1969 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Manning, Iowa. Joe and Carol were blessed with four children.

Joe’s love of the land was only exceeded by love of family, and frequently mini-reunions were hosted by Joe and Carol at the farm. He took great joy in giving his numerous “city kid” nieces, nephews, and grandkids tractor rides, as well as introducing them to all kinds of animals. Joe loved baby animals, so there was always bottle feeding of calves and lambs, not to mention feeding pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys, goats, rabbits, kittens, puppies, and oh the baby chicks! All were invited to collect eggs which delighted the younger children. Family was also invited to look through and pick out antique farm tools and knick-knacks they liked. Uncle Joe was loved by all, and he loved them all right back. After semi-retirement from farming, Joe worked various jobs to keep busy, working as a stat keeper for Iowa Agriculture Statistics, while continuing to help with spring and fall farm work with Kenny Drees. He enjoyed his stat-keeping work, getting an opportunity to visit with many farmers around western Iowa. He was just as interested in getting to know them personally, charming all he visited until he retired for health reasons in early 2013.

In his later years, Joe took great joy with the arrival of his grandchildren. Each one brought tears of joy, and he would lay them flat on the kitchen table just to watch their faces, while getting them to grasp objects. A severe car accident as a young man left Joe with dentures, so he would pop them in and out as the children’s eyes widened with curiosity and delight. Joe may have also, on occasion, done this same trick to other young children sitting near him during Mass at St Ann’s. For every seasonal holiday, Grandpa Joe had made each grandchild their own wooden seasonal hidden candy figurine, which each of them knew hid a tasty gem when they would come to see he and Grandma. Grandpa Joe also made each of his grandchildren a wooden keepsake toy for their first birthday, showing his unconditional love for all of them.

Joe’s favorite pastimes were simple. He loved to play pinochle, and especially enjoyed beating his daughter Rhonda and her husband Mike. He also liked to bluff his way through Scrabble games, hoard the Skip-Bo cards, and finish daily crossword puzzles with a little help from Carol. A lifetime member of St. Ann’s Catholic Parish of Vail, Joe’s unwavering faith was evident, with daily rosaries and reading from his devotional book. As his health declined, Joe still liked to keep busy with handmade candy and making scarves and hats for his family and for charity.

Those left to cherish his memory are his loving and devoted wife of 45 years Carol; daughter Renee and her husband Scott; son William; son Benjamin and his wife Laura ; and daughter Rhonda and her husband Mike; grandchildren Jessica, Jennifer, Joey, Makayla, Makenna, Kiley Kaden, Aerington as well as grand-puppy Maggie; mother-in-law Viola; four sisters; Patricia , Virginia, Marjorie and her husband Doug , and Willetta , as well as dozens of nieces and nephews.