Earl J. Brehm

Earl J. Brehm, 93, of Dubuque, Iowa, formerly from north of Centralia, passed away peacefully on Monday, February 12, 2018 at his home in Dubuque, Iowa.
Friends and relatives of Earl may call from 2 to 8 p.m., Thursday, February 15, 2018 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Peosta, Iowa, where a wake service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Friends may also call after 9 a.m., Friday at the church. Reiff Funeral Home in Epworth, IA is in charge of arrangements.
Services for Earl will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, February 16, 2018 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Peosta, Iowa, with Rev. Michael Schueller presiding, Rev. Richard Kuhn concelebrating, Deacon Dan O’Connell assisting. Burial will be held in St. John’s Cemetery in Centralia, Iowa.
Earl was born on December 17, 1924, at Lore, north of Asbury, to Theresa (Schiessl) and John L. Brehm. Earl was the oldest of 10 children and grew up in Lore and rural Peosta, helping his dad on the family farm.
On May 3, 1950, Earl married Esther Ann Koch of Hickory Valley at St. Boniface, New Vienna. They raised 10 children on their dairy and hog farm north of Centralia: Ken (and the late Connie) of Holy Cross; Mary (Paul) Mausser, of Epworth; Fritz (Carol), of Placid; Tom (Molly), of Placid; Jack (Dianne), of Peosta; Carl (Debbie), of Rickardsville; Mike (Sara), of Peosta; Ann (Brian) Ruden, of Dubuque; Steve (Sharon), of Centralia; Susan Brehm (Kevin Doolan), of Chicago; and special family Sandy and Jerry Powers and their children.
Earl and Esther were blessed with 55 grandchildren and (at last count) 66 great-grandchildren. Family was the joy of Dad’s life. He never passed up a chance to rub the head of a little nütnik, butter a cracker, read about going downhill through a chicken yard, lend a hand, or eat . . . anything, but preferably something sweet. His characteristic words often funnily come out of the mouths of those grandchildren and little great-grandchildren, and he regularly imparted some bit of wisdom without quite telling you what you should do.
Also surviving are Earl’s siblings, Marion Connolly, of Dubuque, Rita Ernst and Clara Ernst, of Bellevue, Paul, of Dubuque, and Kay (John) Gaul, of Peosta; as well as a brother-in-law, Tom (June) Smith, of Caledonia, Ill., and sisters-in-law Mildred Wente, of New Vienna, and Dorothy (Bob) Pitz, of Epworth.
Earl was a man who lived his faith every day and prayed at Holy Family New Melleray, Annunciation Catholic Church in Lattnerville, and St. John the Baptist, Peosta. He read anything and everything he could get his hands on-from Louis L’Amour to the great classics-and enjoyed cracking black walnuts for the family.
He was preceded in death by his parents, two grandsons, Davy and Earl, a brother, Bill, three sisters, Helen Steffen, Theresa Smith, and Margaret Brehm, and his well-loved brothers-in-law and sister-in-law.
The family is deeply grateful for the loving care provided to Dad by No place Like Home over the past several years and in particular those who went well beyond to comfort and encourage him and respect his dignity: Dianne Stecklein, Tom Lentner, Steven Kingsolver, Jan Thomas, and Ann Schaal. We cannot thank you enough.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.reifffuneralhomeinc.com