Arlene Gehl, 91, died Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at Accura Health Care, Cascade, Iowa

Funeral services will be held 11:00 Wednesday morning, October 28, 2026, at St. Anthony Catholic Church, Dubuque with interment in the Mount Calvary Cemetery, Dubuque. Visitation will be held from 9:00 until 10:45 a.m. Wednesday morning at the church. Goettsch Funeral Home, Monticello has taken Arlene and her family into their care.

Those left to cherish her memory are 5 daughters and their spouses Ann (Bob) Reddin, Zwingle, IA, Deb Sickles, Cedar Rapids, IA, Bonnie (Steve) Covey, Cypress, TX, Judy (Bill) Raymond, Center Junction, IA and Amy (Gary Lawrence) Chapman, Monticello, 14 grandchildren, 3 step-grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, 5 step-great-grandchildren, 4 great- great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, Dennis (Rosemary) Wierderhold of Bradenton, FL, Sharon McGurk of Sarasota, FL, Pam (Gene) Ziegenhorn of Andrews, SC, Ron (Heather) Wierderhold of Sarasota, FL, Kevin Wierderhold of Texas. She was preceded by her parents, her husband Donald, a daughter Cathy Kroul and a granddaughter Michelle, a sister Mary Kraus and a brother Harold, son-in-law, Mike Sickles, a nephew James Wierderhold and nieces Nancy Nemmers and Patsy Wierderhold.

Arlene Doris Wiederhold was born November 1, 1934, at her family home in Dubuque, the daughter of Clarence and Helen (Breitbach) Wiederhold. She received her education at St. Anthony Catholic School and St. Joseph Academy in Dubuque. Arlene met her husband Don at her sister's wedding, where she was the maid of honor and he was the best man. They married on May 7, 1952, at St. Anthony's in Dubuque.

The family farmed in both Dubuque and Jackson Counties, settling in Stone City, near Anamosa, IA. In 1984 the couple sold out and moved to Monticello. Arlene worked at the Monticello Senior Home as a CNA and MedAid. She then worked around her neighborhood doing home health care.

Arlene loved all the animals on the farm, especially cats. She wanted to raise Silver Persians, long haired white cats, did her research, bought she first pair of cats, named her business “SootyPaws”, and she and her husband never looked back. Traveling to cat shows and placing with Champion and Grand Champion cats became their next adventure. Soon she had made a name for herself and started selling her cats all over the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, one kitty went to Spain, and several ended up in Europe. One of her proudest moments was taking best kitten in the Kanas City cat show in the Silver Persian division. She is survived by three of her kitties, Susie, Dolly and Romeo.