Wesley Edward Whitead

Retired State Rep Wesley Edward Whitead, 90, of Sioux City, passed away Thursday, February 22, 2024, at a local care center.

Services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at Mohr & Becker-Hunt Funeral Home.   Visitation with the family will be Monday, February 26, 2024, from 5:00 – 7:00 P.M. with a Prayer Service at 6:00 P.M. at the funeral home.  Burial with Military Honors will be at Logan Park Cemetery.

Wesley was born April 15, 1933, in Rural Plymouth County, the son of Marion and Margarite (Stevens) Whitead.  While in high school, Wesley enlisted in the United States Army and served during the Korean War.  He was one of the soldiers who built the runway for the airfield in Okinawa.   After being honorably discharged, Wesley worked at Missouri Valley Machinery and eventually owned and operated his own heavy machinery company, Tri-State Track.

Wesley married Donna Monk on June 25, 1976, in Sioux City.  He loved the fact that he had all grandsons, and enjoyed taking them fishing and was proud of all of them.  He loved to tinker in the garage, but his biggest passion was politics.   He was an Iowa State Representative for many years, and being a very civic and union minded man, spent time giving back to the West Side and Riverside communities.  He was on the Planning and Zoning Board, SIMCO board, Riverside Community Board, and created an organization in memory of his daughter Pamela, Association of Retarded Citizens.  Wesley also helped build the Kirk Hanson Baseball Fields on W. 19th Street in Sioux City.  

Survivors include his wife Donna; children:  Peggy (Keith) Appel, Wesley II (Barb), and Jodi (Mike) Funck all of Sioux City; grandchildren:  Joseph (Amber) Appel, Jacob (Heather) Appel, Nathan Whitead (Kristin), Andrew (Allison) Whitead, Logan (Katherine) Whitead, Justin (Michael) Funck, and Jake (Skylar) Funck; great grandchildren:  Hunter, Colton, Avery, Everett, Madeline, Kinnick, and Luka; and a sister Norma Burger.

He was preceded in death by his parents, daughter Pamela Whitead, bonus daughter Nannette Linsley, brothers Merrit and Duane, and sister Margaret Ann.

The family would like to thank Casa De Paz and Siouxland PACE for their wonderful care of Wesley.

                                                                         “A Working Man For Working Families”