Thomas J. Kuehn, 88, of Hawkeye Care, died April 8th, 2026, of complications from pneumonia and dementia. He was surrounded by his loving family for his short stay at Hawkeye and passed away peacefully.

Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 11th, 2026, at Grandview United Methodist Church. Funeral service will begin at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Tom Shinkle officiating. Burial will be at Center Grove Cemetery in Dubuque. Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory, Dubuque, Iowa, is assisting the family.

Tom was born May 20, 1937, in Dubuque, IA to Velma and Alwin Kuehn. He was one of six siblings. Tom attended Senior high school till the 10th grade and then joined the U.S Navy in1958. He was enlisted until 1962 and later earned his G.E.D

In 1964 he married JoDee Miller from Sabula, IA. at the Little brown church in Nashua, Iowa. They then resided in Dubuque and together had 2 children, Barbara and Jimmy. JoDee lost her battle to cancer in 1983 and in 1986 he met his wife of 40 years Elda Droullard. Together they had a family of five.

Tom worked all his life at the Dubuque Packing Company in the Maintenance department.  He was fortunate to work with several of  his family members and retired from the FDL in July of 2000.

Tom was a member of the operating engineers at the Dubuque Pack. He was a talented metal fabricator and loved his workshop at home in his basement. He also in his younger years enjoyed  snowmobiling and the Articat Club, the Dickeyville Hill climb, go-cart and snowmobile racing on the ice and was very proud of all his trophies. He was an avid fisherman and loved to go out on the Mississippi.  He and Elda also enjoyed  living on their houseboat in the summertime at the Yardarm Marina.  Tom loved everything old and later in life after boating he bought a classic car and enjoyed going to Gary’s Graffiti Nights

He was known for his ability to fix anything, especially metal or hydraulics.

His basement was full of log splitter parts, beer can smashers, nutcrackers, fishing jigs, metal wind chimes, meat grinders and sausage stuffers. He was always working on some project and scrapping for parts for things to work on. His talent was endless.

Tom is survived by his wife Elda, daughter Barbara Fassbinder-potter (Doug), son Jimmy Kuehn (Cathy), stepdaughter Connie Ernst (Kevin),  stepson Tom Droullard (Lisa) and stepson Tucker Droullard. His sister Rhonda Heim (Jim) and brother Larry (Luiza). Six grandsons: Brian Droullard (Ruby), Daniel Ernst (Liz), Dave Ernst (Kate), Zachary Droullard, Cory Droullard, and Johnathon Droullard (Katie). His great grandchildren Ava, Mia, Emma, Olivia, William Ernst and Banks Droullard along with many nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. Brothers and sisters-in-law Tim & Sandy Fiedler, Richard Bradley and Shirley Bahl.

Tom was preceded in death by his parents Al and Velma Kuehn, brother Ron Kuehn (Doris), sisters Nancy Williams and Ruth Long and his first wife JoDee Kuehn. Sister-in-law Mary Lou Bradley, brothers-in-law Alan Schubert and John Schubert.

Tom’s family would like to extend their sincere gratitude to the staff at Hawkeye Care Facility, UnityPoint Hospital 5th floor, and Grandview Methodist Church for all the care Tom received during his illness. In lieu of flowers, memorials will be given to charities close to Tom.