Henry V. Wessel, 87, of Hiawatha, KS, died Saturday, August 31, 2002, at the Hiawatha Community Hospital.

He was born September 16, 1914, the son of August and Elizabeth Osterhaus Wessel on a farm northwest of Baileyville, KS. He grew up there, attended Sacred Heart Grade School, and worked on the family farm and at the CCC camp south of Seneca.

On November 20, 1945, he married Gertrude Akin at St. Michael’s Church in Axtell, KS. They were divorced in 1968. She died November 11, 1992.

They lived south of Seneca, where they farmed and operated a dairy business. In the spring of 1948 they moved to a farm south of Goff. Henry lost his right arm in a corn picker accident in 1952, but this did not stop him from doing his daily work. In December 1963 they moved to Missouri near Long Lane, and later farmed and operated dairies in the Buffalo and Louisburg areas of Missouri. In 1970 he returned to a farm north of Seneca, KS. Besides farming and operating a dairy, he had a trenching business. Henry retired from farming in 1972 and moved to Goff, KS, where he continued to do some trenching.

On October 30, 1993, he married Elsie Richmond Savage in Wetmore, KS. They moved to Hiawatha. She survives of the home.

He was a member of St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Hiawatha and the Brown County Senior Citizens, where he played cards and visited with friends.

Survivors besides his wife Elsie are two sons, Cletus Wessel of Salem, NE, and Fred Wessel of Sabetha; seven daughters, Anna Marie Segenhagen and Emma Jean Krogmann, both of Wetmore, Elizabeth “Betty” Vest of Long Lane, MO, Florence “Flo” Brown of Louisburg, MO, Theresa Marie Sherman of Peru, NE, Rita Weir of Portland, OR, and Julie Gakle of Topeka; two brothers, Albert “Bert” Wessel and Norbert Wessel, both of Frankfort, KS; five sisters, Helen Hermesch, Eileen Duryea, Hilda Bergman, and Lucille Tanking, all of Seneca, and Alma Dwerlkotte of Marysville; 38 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren.

Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 AM Wednesday, September 4, at St. Patrick’s Church in Corning, KS. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Rosaries will be prayed at 2 & 7 PM Tuesday at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca.

Memorial contributions may be given for the Hiawatha Community Hospital or St. Patrick’s Cemetery, and sent in care of the family.