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Celebration of Life
Saturday, June 18, 2016
First United Methodist Church
Kearney, MO
11 a.m.
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Chester Charles Wohlfarth
Chester Charles Wohlfarth, 87, of Kearney, Mo., passed through Heaven’s gates on Monday, June 13, 2016 in his home with his wife, Irene, son, Kurt and daughter, Loree at his side.
Born and raised in Chicago, Ill., the son of Chester Richard Wohlfarth and Clara Anne (Dennis) Wohlfarth, Chester, known as Babe by his family and friends, worked with his father in the family meat business in Chicago during the declining years of the Chicago stockyards. The business continued on.
Chester’s family had a lake cottage and hobby farm in Indiana. Chester spent every summer there, Wednesday and weekends during the school year. He loved the farm, the horses, the dogs, and the crops. Chester married Irene (Peterson) in 1949, and shortly thereafter they winterized the cottage and made it their family home. Chester continued on with the family business and the farm, and was also a volunteer fireman. Chester and Irene have one son, Kurt Charles (Jeanne Griffith) and one daughter, Lorene Dale. He has several grand and great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister, Carolyn Hesch, and several nieces and nephews.
In their early 30’s, Chester and Irene moved their family to northern Minnesota to attend Oak Hills Christian College in order to become missionaries. However, plans were changed and they remained at the college as the college deans for 20 years. Chester also was the ski instructor and he and Irene taught a courtship, marriage and family class. Chester launched the college’s volunteer fireman brigade. During their tenure at the college, Chester and his family would often return to the Chicago area in the summertime where he worked construction, managed a golf course, returned to his firemen position ... A couple of summers, the family would travel to South Dakota to work along with their neighbors on the family ranch. Chester was the cowboy cook and teenage son, Kurt was a ranch hand. They would travel by horse and covered wagon to round up the cows and would be away from the ranch for many days at a time.
One of Chester’s greatest loves was music. He and Irene joined a cowboy gospel group. Chester taught Kurt to play the guitar and he soon joined the group. He was especially proud of Loree and her musical abilities and loved to hear her play and sing.
Chester and Irene designed and built their home in Minnesota, which sat at the top of a hill in between two lakes. Chester and Kurt performed all the labor and the home was completed within one year.
In the early 80’s Chester and Irene moved to California where they lived for three years. Chester was Director of Fund Raising for a private academy. They moved from California to Missouri and have been here ever since. Chester’s job as manager of a repo company and investigative work added several stories to his repertoire.
Chester and Irene started writing down their memoires many years ago for their kids and grandkids. Affectionately known as “the green book”, the contents grew as they would write more stories. Within their 67 years of marriage, there are lots of stories!
Chester loved to tell stories about his life experiences (south side Chicago kid, farmer, fireman, preacher, ski instructor, assistant to college president, college dean, teacher, investigator, cowboy, and camp recreational director) and he loved to laugh and make others laugh. He lived a captivating life and his stories portrayed his experiences with wonderment, humor and learning opportunities.
Chester had faith in God’s words. He lived his life as he felt led. He didn’t preach his beliefs, he lived them. Perfection was not an option for him, but staying true to his interpretation of the Bible was important. He was awed and humbled to be a flawed man that God loved unconditionally. He rejoiced in the fact of heaven, but he felt more strongly about living life the best way possible. One of Chester’s favorite sayings was “It’s not the dying I’m talking about, it’s the living”. - Gus McCrae, Lonesome Dove.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 18, 2016 at First United Methodist Church in Kearney, Mo., with a gathering of family and friends to follow. Cremation.
Arrangements are through Fry-Bross & Spidle Funeral Home, Kearney.
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