Chester Chet Abel

Chester “Chet” Earl Abel, the son of Abner Earl and Gladys Olevia (Worden) Abel, was born September 11, 1935 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Chet entered eternal rest Saturday, January 5, 2019 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa at the age of eighty-three years.
Chet’s family moved from Walnut, Iowa to a farm west of Creston in 1945 where he would reside the rest of his life. He graduated from Cromwell High School with the class of 1953. Chet would then begin farming on his own, growing grain and raising cattle and hogs, a passion that would last a lifetime. He was a proud veteran, joining the National Guard in 1955 and serving until 1961. On October 2, 1960 Chet married Betty Joan Kralik in Cromwell. Two boys, Rodney and Brady, would bless this marriage.
Chet was a member of the Cromwell United Church of Christ, Maple Hill Cemetery Board, and the Creston Eagles. He was active in the Douglas Boosters 4-H club. He and Betty were members of the Silver Circle Club with First National Bank in Creston and enjoyed their trips with the club. He was a former member of the Creston Elks, Creston Lions Club, Creston Feed and Grain Board, and the Union County Pork Producers. In 1985 he and Betty were named Master Pork Producers for the State of Iowa. He enjoyed TV westerns and driving the countryside looking at the crops and livestock. Chet also enjoyed dancing with Betty. Family visits were very special to him and so were phone conversations with family and friends.
Left to cherish Chet’s memory is his wife, Betty Abel of Creston; two sons, Rodney (Marla) Abel of Lee’s Summit, Missouri and Brady Abel of Peoria, Arizona; four grandchildren: Jarod (Karlea) Abel, Jordan Abel, Kelsey Searles, and Megan Searles; sisters: Loretta Doonan Petersen of Atlantic, Mary Ann Bryant of Lenox, Bertha “Bert” Purdum of Lenox, and Carol (Jack) Anderson of Manhattan Beach, California; sisters-in-law: Donna Standley of Papillion, Nebraska, and Carol Kralik of Creston; many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Preceding Chet in death were his parents; mother and father-in-law, Hazel and Harold Kralik; brother, Kenneth Abel; sisters: Evelyn Abel, and Beverly Abel Mohr; sister-in-law, Darlene Abel; brothers-in-law: Gaylord Doonan, Arnold Petersen, Willard “Bud” Bryant, Dale Purdum, William “Bill” Mohr, Dale Standley, and Eugene Kralik; niece, Linda Doonan Arhrenholtz; nephews: Michael Abel, David Standley, Michael Kralik, and James Doonan.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. “ – John 14:27A