Nick Tilkes

Nick Tilkes, age 79 of New Hampton, IA died Friday, March 13, 2020, at his home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 17, 2020, at Holy Family Parish in New Hampton with Rev. Brian Dellaert celebrating the Mass. Interment will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, New Hampton with Brady Tilkes, Logan Tilkes, Landon Tilkes, Will Hicks, Cole Denner, Colton Meirick, and Trevor Fecht serving as pallbearers. Visitation will be held 4:00 - 7:00 pm Monday, March 16, 2020, at Hugeback Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in New Hampton with a 6:30 p.m. scripture service. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service Tuesday at the church. Nick Tilkes was born to John and Leone (Deitrich) Tilkes on May 21, 1940, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in New Hampton, and he grew up on a farm just south of North Washington. He attended school at St. Mary’s Catholic School in North Washington, where he was a member of the Class of 1958. A couple of months after graduating from high school, he and some friends attended John and Joyce Laures’ wedding dance in Lawler, which proved to be one of the best decisions of Nick’s life because it was there that he met Jean Rosonke. They began dating — going to dances and roller skating together — and fell in love. On Sept. 20, 1960, Nick and Jean were married at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Hampton and after living north of Bassett and east of New Hampton, they moved into the city. Meanwhile, the family grew as they welcomed their six children — Steve, Dale, Sharon, Karen, Aaron and Lee — and the Tilkes’ kids have great memories of their father. He loved to take them fishing and to the races, and every Sunday, after church, their father always played a game with them. When he first moved into New Hampton, he helped a couple of neighbors with their race cars, and he was hooked. If there was a track in this part of the state that Nick hadn’t visited, we don’t know which one that is. For 38 years, Nick worked for the Iowa Department of Transportation, and God only knows how much snow he plowed and how many ditches he mowed through the years. He missed a few Christmases, birthdays and other events along the way, but his family knew Nick had a job to do and he did it well right up until the day he retired in 2002. One of the best memories the Tilkes kids have of their dad was the day that Steve asked him if he could play an album at mealtime instead of Dad’s standard polka music. Nick said sure, Steve put Led Zeppelin IV on the record player, and by the second song, Nick was singing along. They also remember the couple of summers that their father rode his trusty blue bike to and from the DOT shop. Nick wasn’t much of a traveler, but he did take a couple of fishing trips to Canada and went to a couple of NASCAR races over the years. When the Tilkes kids were growing up, Nick and Jean often took day trips to places like Adventureland. He loved his polka music, Molly B. could often be heard playing in the Tilkes house, and he was always up for a game of 500 or euchre. He was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, and Catholic Order of Foresters. He was a devoted husband for 59 1/2 years to his wife. He was a handyman. He was a hard-working, generous father who for years helped his kids with the Waterloo Courier paper route that was passed down through the Tilkes children. And he was an adoring grandfather to 11 grandchildren and his one great-granddaughter, and he was known to spoil them from time to time. In short, Nick touched a lot of lives and will be missed by many. Nick is survived by four sons, Steve Tilkes of Grundy Center, IA, Dale (Toni) Tilkes of Waterloo, IA, Aaron (Kim) Tilkes of Mason City, IA, Lee (Lisa) Tilkes of Marion, IA; two daughters, Sharon (Mike) Hicks of Swisher, IA, Karen (Mike) Crooks of Ionia, IA; eleven grandchildren, Will Hicks of Swisher, IA, Rebecca (Colton) Meirick of Elma, IA, Beth Hicks of Pennsylvania, Megan (Trevor) Fecht of Allison, IA, Jessica (Cole Denner) Crooks of Ionia, IA, Bailey Tilkes of Mason City, IA, Brady Tilkes of Mason City, IA, Bobbi Tilkes of Mason City, IA, Brandi Tilkes of Mason City, IA, Logan Tilkes of Marion, IA, Landon Tilkes of Marion, IA ; one great-granddaughter, Rylee Fecht; two sisters, Jan Hillegas of Charles City, IA, Grace Pittman of Arizona; one brother-in-law, Richard Lansing of Ossian, IA; one sister-in-law, Florence Tilkes of Ionia, IA. He was preceded in death by his parents; one son, James Tilkes in infancy; one grandson, Bradley Tilkes in infancy; three sisters, Madeline Lansing, Caroline (Richard) Havel; Sister Lois Tilkes; one brother, Lawrence Tilkes; three brothers-in-law, Brian McClure, Bob Hillegas, Wayne Pittman.