Kenneth Crouch

Kenneth Adelbert Crouch, the oldest of four children of George Adelbert and Otellie (Tuchenhagen) Crouch, was born March 9, 1914 in Mills County, east of Glenwood, Iowa. His first home was located in Section 4 of Center Township. The family moved to a farm on "pole road", a few miles north of Glenwood, which later became known as the "Crouch Home Place". Kenneth grew up in the West Liberty area. He was baptized at the Community Baptist Church of West Oak in 1931. He attended country school at West Liberty and completed the 8th grade. He attended high school for three months, but decided that he was needed at home to help with the farming and daily chores. As a young man, he did day labor in the area, earning a dollar a day for his hard work. Kenneth started farming with a team of horses, "Ginger and "Brownie". He received his first tractor from his dad in 1935 and planted his first corn crop in 1936, which didn't yield very well. On September 1, 1939, Kenneth was united in marriage to Elizabeth Irene Markel, the daughter of George Adam and Grace Marie (Reasoner) Markel of Glenwood. During their early years of marriage, they l...[more]

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d in various areas of the county. In 1943, they moved to their present farming area five miles northeast of Glenwood. Their marriage was blessed with six children, Linda, Nancy, Richard, Janet, Kenneth, Jr., and Robert. Kenneth and Betty's life has always centered on the farm and family. All of their children attended the one-room country school known as Evernham, where he was responsible for getting the teacher to school if the mud road was bad. During his active farming years, Kenneth enjoyed keeping busy doing custom work for other farmers, hay baling during the summer, and combining crops and chopping silage in the fall. He always had a cow-calf herd to keep him busy in his spare time. He hardly slowed down until he broke his leg at the age of 92. He had a major surgery in the fall of 2007 which kept him from harvesting that year. Kenneth and Betty received great joy that their family and grandchildren lived within a few minutes' drive. Kenneth and Betty were married 71 years when he passed away May 18, 2011, at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs. He had attained the age of 97 years, 2 months, and 9 days. Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents; sister May Lucille (Crouch) Boyce; and brothers, Russell George Crouch and Albert William Crouch. Kenneth is survived by his wife Betty Crouch of Glenwood; children, Linda Seipold and husband Kenneth of Hastings, IA, Nancy Lincoln and husband Dick of Glenwood, Richard Crouch and wife Barb of Malvern, IA; Janet Wilson and husband Rich of Pacific Junction, IA, Kenneth "Skeet" Crouch, Jr. and wife Stevie, and Robert Crouch and wife Kelly, all of Glenwood; fourteen grandchildren; eight great grandchildren; four nieces; other relatives and many friends. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established.