Dail Whiteley's Obituary
Rex Dail Whiteley, age 97 years 10 months old passed away on October 31, 2020 at Corydon Specialty Care Center in Corydon, Iowa. Dail was born on January 31, 1923 at home in Sewal, Iowa to Irvin E. Whiteley and Sarah Emma (Todd) Whiteley. Dail was the first of three children born to this union. A brother, Irvin Jr Whiteley was born 5 years later on Dail's birthday. Baby Sister, Sarah, was still born at 32 weeks of age. Dail attended school in Sewal and graduated in 1940 with 8 other classmates. During this time he had a newspaper delivery route earning enough money to buy his own bicycle. He used this new bike to also deliver milk from the family milk cow for 10 cents a quart. Playing baseball, basketball and croquet filled his leisure hours growing up. He made his own croquet mallet at home on a turning lathe which was run by a washing machine motor. He also loved to go fishing and caught several fish from a pond near Sewal during the summers. When Dail was older, he helped unload train cars of sand and lumber for his Grandpa James Whiteley's lumber yard in Sewal. It would take three days on average to unload the cars and restock the lumberyard. There was no electricity or running water when Dail was growing up, but the family did have a radio run by a wet battery that required trips to Corydon for recharging so the family could use it on a regular basis. Dail could catch Ron "Dutch" Reagan on WHO announcing some of the Chicago Cubs baseball games on the radio when he came home from school. Thus began a lifelong love of Chicago Cubs baseball. Dail was always curious about how things worked and made a homemade light plant using a washing machine motor, truck generator and an old battery that he used to produce enough electricity for two 50 watt lights for the house and a wind charger was connected to it also. If the wind wasn't blowing Dail would fill the little gas tank with gas and let it run to charge up the battery. Gasoline was cheap then around 18 cents a gallon. A lot of Dail's inventiveness was put to good use producing items that made life on the farm easier in their daily lives. This also included digging a hole 27 feet deep with sections of salvaged pipe attached to a posthole digger to make a well. His Uncle, Leo Mace, helped him finish the project so the well could provide water for the livestock on the farm. After graduation Dail's family moved from Sewal to a farm east of Corydon. Sorghum was raised and harvested by hand using a corn knife and the hayfield was so large it took days to cut and harvest all of the hay using teams of horses so the various livestock would have feed for the following winter. Every chance he got though, Dail was playing baseball on various teams throughout these years and he developed a love for pitching. His Grandfather as well as his Father both played baseball in their younger days on the Old Shane Hill ball team that even traveled by train to different states to play ball. So baseball came natural to him. On November 23, 1942 he met the love of his life, Maxine Breuer. They were married on January 10, 1944 just before he left to serve in the Navy during WWII. He was trained as an electrician and served the majority of his time on the newly christened USS Boxer aircraft carrier. His tour of duty took him to Cuba, Panama, Hawaii, Japan, China, Saipan and Guam before being honorably discharged. During this time back home, Maxine had given birth to their first born Son, Gary Dail in November, 1944. After Dail returned from service Ronald Dean was born into the family in August, 1947. A daughter, Donna Kay, arrived in August of 1948. It was during this time that Dail started his own electrical business in 1947 in Corydon, Iowa. REA was providing electrical service to Corydon and the surrounding communities and Dail installed electrical service to many of the homes in these communities and farm buildings on their farms. This kept him busy for several years. During this time of his life, baseball was still front and center whether listening or watching the Chicago Cubs baseball games and playing baseball himself. He played on the Corydon men's baseball team and played first base, but pitching was his preferred position to play. After returning from service, he pitched his first and only no hitter in his baseball playing days. Corydon did not have a lighted baseball field at this time so Dail and friends secured and installed all of the lights at the Corydon Fairgrounds ball field. This ballfield was soon well known as one of the best lighted ball fields in southern Iowa. In 1955 Dail and Maxine moved their family to a farm west of Corydon and started a dairy operation as well as raising hogs, sheep and chickens. A large garden was necessary to provide additional food for the growing family as Cindy Lou arrived in October of 1957 and not long after Randy Ray completed the family in May of 1959. Dail excelled in his abilities of repairing household appliances and producing items for the farm and family to ease the fatigue of milking cows twice daily and all of the other chores that had to be completed on a daily basis. On bad weather days he could be found in his workshop working on machinery, repairing or inventing his next project. Lots of hay was produced in small square bales and fork lifted into the haymow of the large dairy barn and silage cut for the silo for wintertime feed. Corn fields that were a distance from the home place and too far for the milk cows to reach were walked row by row on Saturday mornings as the kids helped pick up any dropped ear corn that could be salvaged for livestock food. Nothing was wasted on the farm. Fire damaged the farm house in 1956 and remodeling ensued to repair and update the home. In May of 1964 a tornado struck and damaged the house once again as well as destroying the huge dairy barn and other out buildings on the farm. Damaged buildings had to be torn down to the ground and every board was hand cleaned of nails or screws and any damage cut away so the boards could be salvaged, sized and stacked to be reused as much rebuilding had to be done again before winter set in that year. The dairy barn was rebuilt and became a Grade "A" dairy at that time. Within a few years, Dail started his registered Black Angus cow calf herd which allowed him to sell the dairy cows and take life a little easier. Having raised all of the children who were all off on their own life's journeys now, Dail and Maxine sold the family farm in 1978 and moved into Corydon to begin their retirement. Their Son, Ron built a new home for them in 1979 complete with a smaller yard and garden. Soon thereafter they became "snowbirds" traveling to Mesa, Arizona for several years to escape the Iowa winters and Dail attended most all of the Chicago Cubs spring training games as well as playing lots of card games and other activities with new friends at Mesa Regal Park. In 2002 they downsized again and built another new home in Corydon with a much smaller yard and garden for Dail's tomatoes and veggies. Suffering from some health issues he finally quit gardening at the age of 90. In 2014 they sold this home and moved to Homestead Assisted Living in Chariton, Iowa where he continued to tinker and repair items in their apartment. Cribbage, card games, bingo, dominos and puzzles filled his time with newly made friends. Of course watching the Cub games as well as the Hawkeyes ball teams filled his free time also. The Cubs winning the World Series finally was a lifelong dream come true for him after all those years of cheering for them. After moving to Corydon Specialty Care in March of 2018 Dail and Maxine celebrated their 75th Wedding Anniversary with family, friends and residents. Dail celebrated his 95th birthday on January 31st of that year also. Dail was a wonderful husband and great provider for his family instilling a wonderful work ethic in each of his children with his reminders of getting work done first before playing. His grandchildren and great grandchildren will especially miss all of those wonderful back scratches he provided at nap times. His children will cherish all of the memories of his help in refurbishing and repairing their homes and appliances over the years also. It seemed he could do just about anything or he would invent it to make things work better for everyone. His interesting stories and dry wit will be greatly missed by family, friends, relatives and all who knew him. Dail is survived by his wife of 76 years, Maxine of Corydon; Ron (Joan) Whiteley of Kentland, Indiana and Randy Whiteley and Special Friend, Denese Bankus, Corydon; daughters Donna (Thierry) Amice, Chariton, Iowa; and Cindy (Jeff) Stewart, Corydon and Daughter in Law Connie Whiteley of Smiley, Texas. Grandchildren Kellie (Tony) Sinclair, Melrose, Iowa; Mike Curran and Special Friend Erin Weber, Woodburn, Iowa; Chris Whiteley, Smiley Texas; Chad (Amy) Whiteley, Euless, Texas; Sarah (Chad) Peck, Promise City, Iowa; Jason Whiteley, Powell, Ohio; Brad (Trish) Whiteley, Speedway, Indiana; Matt (Ryanne) Whiteley, Columbus, Indiana and Lorah (Ryan) Arnold, Corydon, Iowa. Great grandchildren Kolby, Luke, Cole and Wyatt Sinclair, Melrose, Iowa; Special great grandchildren Cierra Hildebrand, Ogden, Iowa; Sydney Hildebrand, Winterset, Iowa; Sage Hildebrand, Woodburn, Iowa and Shawn Partlow, Woodburn, Iowa; Conner, Addison and Cade Whiteley, Euless, Texas; Riley and Reese Brown and Brystal Peck, Promise City, Iowa; Shayden and Hagan Arnold, Corydon, Iowa; Graham Michael Whiteley, Speedway, Indiana and Great Great Grandchild, Adrian Mayfield, Ogden, Iowa. He has nieces and many other relatives and friends who survive him and will miss him greatly. Dail was preceded in death by his parents, Irvin E. and Emma Whiteley and baby Sister, Sarah Emma. Also his first born son, Gary of Smiley, Texas; Brother Jr and Sister in Law Geneva (Ockerman) Whiteley, of Perry, Iowa. Funeral service will be 11:00 AM Saturday, November 7, 2020 at Thomas Funeral Home in Corydon. Interment with military honors will immediately follow at Corydon Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service from 10-11:00 AM. Memorials may be given to Prairie Trails Museum of Wayne County or Corydon United Methodist Church. Condolences may be shared at www.thomasfh.com or facebook.com/thomasfuneralhome. Due to Covid-19, the family requests all visitors to please wear a mask to all services and to practice social distancing. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Dail Whiteley please visit our Sympathy Store. Cemetery Details Corydon Cemetery S. West St. & Co Park Road
Corydon, IA 50060 Visitation NOV 7. 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM (CST) Thomas Funeral Home-Corydon 303 E Jefferson StCorydon, IA 50060 Funeral Service NOV 7. 11:00 AM (CST) Thomas Funeral Home-Corydon 303 E Jefferson StCorydon, IA 50060 Interment NOV 7 (CST) Corydon Cemetery S. West St. & Co Park RoadCorydon, IA 50060
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