Harold "Bob" Robert Wessel

Harold Robert Bob Wessel, age 91, of Des Moines, died of a heart attack on January 20, 2016. Mr. Wessel was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Despite his many accomplishments in business, his greatest pride was his service to others. There are two types of people, he said, givers and takers. And, when you go to heaven, Peter asks just one question, What did you do for the poor? He worked as a skilled machinist at the beginning of World War II prior to enlisting in the Navy and serving in Naval Air throughout the war. He was proud of his military service, noting that, Not a single enemy plane reached Texas on my watch. He was active in veterans organizations after the war, driving veterans to medical appointments, providing wheelchair service at the hospital and furnishing computers to veterans at his own expense. Following the war, he attended college on the G.I. Bill. He walked into a General Motors Assurance Corporation office one day, told the manager You want to hire me, - and he was right. After an extraordinary career he required two secretaries to keep up with him - he moved his family to Moberly, Missouri and started his own insurance agency. His work ethic and ability to connect with and read people led to a thriving business. In fact, he was a serial entrepreneur, with ventures ranging from real estate to satellite TV to a cell phone system that was far ahead of its time. Contributing to his success was his sense of humor, reputation for honesty and integrity, and his fascination with every person that crossed his path. In his own words, he never knew a stranger. A boy during the Great Depression, Mr. Wessel took every opportunity to work to support his wife and six children and the poor. He provided his children with opportunities he had not had, including first rate education. But he also negotiated delivery of day-old baked goods to seniors, installed church flooring and talked many a lender into taking a chance on first-time homebuyers. He wired houses for Habitat for Humanity and bought useful things at yard sales for the poor. Upon retirement in 1992, he moved from Missouri to Des Moines to be with family. He was interested in people from all walks of life and had passionate political views. In both Missouri and Iowa, he knew governors, congressmen and presidential candidates, not to mention local officials, whom he watchdogged. Everyone needed to know his opinion because God only made so many perfect heads and the rest he covered with hair. His efforts as a watchdog gained him some notoriety with school boards, water boards, and the media. Mr. Robert Wessel lived a long, fulfilling life and remained mentally sharp and witty to the end. Mr. Wessel will be missed by his wife Virginia Kit Wessel and daughter Jan Marie Wessel of the home, sons John Robert Wessel of Des Moines, David Lee Wessel of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and Mark Steven Wessel of Ventura, California, daughters Terry Gail Lynch of West Des Moines and Jerri Susan Meyer of Des Moines, and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and friends.