Services
Obituary
Joe F. Appelhons, 98, of Britt, passed away on Friday, February 13, 2026, at Homestead Assisted Living in Mason City, Iowa.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, February 20, 2026, at 11:00 AM at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 139 3rd Street Southeast in Britt. Burial will be in St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery.
Visitation will be held from 4:00 - 6:00 PM on Thursday, February 19, 2026, at Ewing Funeral Home, 178 Center Street in Britt with a Scriptural Wake service beginning at 3:30 PM. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the services at the church on Friday.
Joe Frank Appelhons was born January 5, 1928 in Britt to John and Catherine (Kress) Appelhons. Joe attended the Britt Schools. In 1945, Joe served his country by enlisting in the Navy. He served as a Helmsman on the US Navy Hospital Ship “USS Haven”, which sailed in the Pacific. During his tour, the “Haven” was the hospital ship that stood by during the Atomic Bomb testing site off of the Bikini Islands on January 25, 1946. Shortly after, the “Haven” was decommissioned during his tour and Joe was transferred to the US Naval Air Station based in San Diego, for his remaining six months of duty which ended in 1947. Joe returned to Britt with plans to help out with the family farm. Unfortunately, this never came to fruition.
On September 6, 1950, Joe married Donna Mary Wolf of Forest City, Iowa at St. James Catholic Church in Forest City. The couple made their home in Britt. They had three children, Linda (1951), Carol (1954) and Paul (1964). Joe and Donna were married for 65 years until her passing on November 22, 2015. Joe worked in construction early in their marriage. He was part of the construction crew that built the High School (now the old part of the West High School) and several homes in Britt. In 1960, Joe went to work for Marting Manufacturing (now Smidley Manufacturing)as a builder/laborer and retired in 1993 as a Plant Manager/Foreman. Joe was a member of the Britt Volunteer Fire Department for 23 years.
Joe was a fun, loving and caring father whereby his family always came first. Oh, he would grumble every summer, as he gave up is only week vacation time to take his family on road trips, but once on the road, he always had the biggest smile. Joe loved working with his hands, whether it be construction (he remodeled the interior of their home from one end to the other) or lawn care and gardening (vegetable and floral). He once disassembled an old house close to his home, and with that lumber he built himself a two-car garage and workshop area, heating it with a wood burning stove. In his early years of retirement, Joe enjoyed going up to the fire station and play cribbage and/or poker with whomever was there and doing small construction projects for friends and family. He also enjoyed going uptown to join friends for coffee to hear the latest Britt news. But, as he got older and his hearing was no longer good, he stopped attending the coffee with friends. In his late 80’s, Joe started coloring in coloring books, as this was the latest new adult hobby at that time. He enjoyed it so much that he switched to “paint by numbers”. His garage and basement walls were covered in his paintings. He also enjoyed jigsaw puzzles. 500 pieces were his favorite, but he enjoyed a 750 or 1000 pieces too.
Joe was a prankster and enjoyed making people laugh. His favorite way was with fun/funny “gag” gadgets and playing tricks on everyone. One of his favorites was the “Singing Bass”.
When reflecting on Joe’s life, he will be fondly remembered by his nieces and nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren for his unusual fun sense of humor, his smile, and great kindness.
Joe is survived by his three children; Linda Gunsolly, of Mason City, and her children Tammy, Chris, and Jamie ); Carol Scherfenberg of Mason City and her stepchildren Lena (Ferguson Clough) Scherfenberg and Jason (Sarah) Scherfenberg, all from Minneapolis, and Paul Appelhons (friend, Jerri Hill) of Britt. Great granddaughters; Dreama, Hannah, Olivia and step granddaughter, Isla; and many wonderful nieces and nephews.
Joe is proceeded in death by his parents, John and Catherine; mother and father in-laws, Laura (Otis) and Marvin Wolf; his wife Donna (Wolf); two sons-in-law, Keith Gunsolly and David Scherfenberg; his siblings and their spouses, the first John Appelhons, Elizabeth (Martin Lichman and Merle Haxton) Haxton, the first Jacob Appelhons, John and Emma (Baker) Appelhons, Katherine (Katy) Appelhons, Jake and Tina (Smit) Appelhons, Barbara and Charles Jilek, Mary and Lewis Fox, Irene and Darell Francis. One brother-in-law, Tom Wolf. Nephews Donny Francis, John Lichman, Richard Fox, Dave Klass, Dave Appelhons, Tom Barlas, and Cecil Ryerson. Nieces Mary (Haxton), Jackie (Jensen) Appelhons, Becky (Fox) Wagner, Patricia (Jilek) Jones, Laurie Jilek and Brenda Wolf. Second cousins Gloria (Lichman) and her husband Merv Lemmon, and Chuck Landau.
As mentioned, our Dad had a really fun sense of humor. It always gave him great pleasure to see people laughing at something he said or from one of his “gag” gadgets. So, in Dad’s memory, we want to, one last time, share with you, a funny story from The Readers Digest, “Laughter The Best Medicine.”
A guy’s grandfather clock stopped working. He called a repair shop to get it fixed, but they wanted $50 to come get it. “I’ll bring it to you,” the guy said. So he strapped the clock to his back and started walking down the big hill he lived on. Halfway down, he slipped, and he slid down the hill into town just as a lady was crossing the street. He barreled into her and knocked her over. Dazed, disgruntled, and still on the ground, she asked, “Why can’t you just wear a wristwatch like everyone else?!”