Leonard Kwapiszeski
February 10, 1923 — May 28, 2016
Leonard Michael Kwapiszeski passed away in total peace and comfort to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on May 28th, 2016 at age 93. He was the third child born to Fred and Caecilia (Fromm) Kwapiszeski on February 10, 1923. His parents were proud to be second generation German/Polish immigrants to the U.S.A. He was born and raised on his parents farm in Panama, Iowa, farm with his two brothers (Fred and Herb), two sisters (Helen and Edna) and his Grandmother Katherine (Schechinger) Fromm through grade school. Following his high school graduation, Leonard continued in his parents farming operation.
During the Great Depression, his parents and siblings split up and also began farming in Defiance, Kirkman, and Exira, Iowa, leaving Leonard alone on the original Panama farmstead. In 1948 he obtained his first farm, followed with a second farm in 1967. During this time Leonard became a pilot owning his own plane, as did his older brother Herb, and he was also a member of the Iowa chapter of the Flying Farmers of America, like his cousin, Johnny Klein of Harlan. In the 1950s, Leonard and 30 other farmers flew their planes down to the Mexican Baja and over to Mexico City on an agricultural trip.
He was fluent in speaking German, as the rest of the family, loved to whistle, enjoyed farming, and teasing his nieces and nephews. After his father's death in 1962, he continued living with his mother and thoroughly enjoyed going to weekly dances at the Peony Park Ballroom in Omaha. Retiring in his early 60's, he began to take international trips seeing the world.
In 1983, Leonard met and married Kathy Morinelli of Omaha and lived in the Panama and the Omaha/Council Bluffs areas until her untimely death in 2013. Leonard resided with the great care provided to him at the Little Flower Haven Nursing Home in Earling, Iowa, for almost three years and selected his eldest and closest nephew to continue his farming operations in Panama.
In August of 2015, both the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and President of the Iowa Farm Bureau presented a Century Farm Award to Kwapi Farms LLC for owning and operating one of the Panama farms since 1892. Leonard's legacy is the love he had for his family.
During the Great Depression, his parents and siblings split up and also began farming in Defiance, Kirkman, and Exira, Iowa, leaving Leonard alone on the original Panama farmstead. In 1948 he obtained his first farm, followed with a second farm in 1967. During this time Leonard became a pilot owning his own plane, as did his older brother Herb, and he was also a member of the Iowa chapter of the Flying Farmers of America, like his cousin, Johnny Klein of Harlan. In the 1950s, Leonard and 30 other farmers flew their planes down to the Mexican Baja and over to Mexico City on an agricultural trip.
He was fluent in speaking German, as the rest of the family, loved to whistle, enjoyed farming, and teasing his nieces and nephews. After his father's death in 1962, he continued living with his mother and thoroughly enjoyed going to weekly dances at the Peony Park Ballroom in Omaha. Retiring in his early 60's, he began to take international trips seeing the world.
In 1983, Leonard met and married Kathy Morinelli of Omaha and lived in the Panama and the Omaha/Council Bluffs areas until her untimely death in 2013. Leonard resided with the great care provided to him at the Little Flower Haven Nursing Home in Earling, Iowa, for almost three years and selected his eldest and closest nephew to continue his farming operations in Panama.
In August of 2015, both the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and President of the Iowa Farm Bureau presented a Century Farm Award to Kwapi Farms LLC for owning and operating one of the Panama farms since 1892. Leonard's legacy is the love he had for his family.
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