Obituaries : Dean KaDel Urice

KaDel Urice

VINTON – Dean KaDel Urice, 85, of Vinton, died Tuesday, April 19, 2011, at Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton of pneumonia, a complication related to a long battle with Parkinson’s.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, April 23, 2011, at the Vinton Presbyterian Church with Rev. David Gates officiating. Family will greet friends from 9:30 a.m. until service time at the church on Saturday. Inurnment will take place in Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton, at a later date.

KaDel was born on February 26, 1926, in Vinton, Iowa, to Logan B. and Orpha (Kadel) Urice. He graduated from Vinton High School in 1944, and briefly attended Iowa State University. Stationed in Germany, he served in the U.S. Army from 1950-52 during the Korean War. In 1956, KaDel married Ada Kathleen Roberts in Sharon Center, Iowa. Ada had moved to Vinton from Oxford, Iowa, three years earlier to teach in the elementary school.

KaDel was a cattleman for more than 60 years, raising purebred Shorthorns and Salers on his farm south of Vinton. Having grown up in town, KaDel purchased land and developed his operation from the ground up. He was designated the 1957 Outstanding Young Farmer by the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce. He served on the Benton County Fair Board for twelve years. He served on Kirkwood Community College's Beef Advisory board for many years. KaDel was a board member with the Iowa Shorthorn Association and was honored as a Builder of the Breed by the American Shorthorn Association in 1984. In the 1980s, he shifted his purebred operation to the French-originated Salers cattle and served as a director with the Iowa Salers Association. After he retired he was recognized by the National Salers Association as the 2007 Honorary Breeder.

KaDel was a lifelong member of the Vinton Presbyterian Church where he served as an elder and as president of the church corporation.

KaDel is survived by his wife of 55 years, Ada K. (Roberts) Urice; his two daughters: Andrea Lee Urice of St. Louis, Missouri, and Maria KaDel Urice of Kalona, Iowa; one granddaughter: Lydia Mei Urice, also of St. Louis; one sister-in-law: Kathleen “Susy” (Robison) Urice of Spokane, Washington; and one brother-in-law: Morris T. Keeton of Mt. Airy, Maryland.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters: Ruth E. Keeton and Jean K. Drilling; and one brother: Logan K. “Bud” Urice.

A memorial fund has been established in KaDel's honor.

Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home of Vinton is caring for KaDel and his family. Condolences may be left at www.vsrfh.com.