Obituary
Allen D. Dirksen was born on November 13th, 1950 in Buffalo Center, IA. He was the youngest of five children born to Henry and Anna (Tjarks) Dirksen.
Al attended grade school in Woden and finished his education at the Titonka Consolidated School where he graduated in 1968.
On July 6th, 1985 he married Lisa Helmers at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. In 1987, their daughter Lacey was born.
Al retired from 3M in Forest City after 32 years. He enjoyed staying busy in his retirement and was currently working for Winnebago Industries as a courier transporting motorhomes locally. He also enjoyed working for the Main Family during fall harvest. He often said he made some of his dearest friends working these jobs.
Al enjoyed all aspects of farm life and was a lover of animals, which he passed onto his grandchildren. In his free time, Al enjoyed driving his corvette, going to car shows, tractor rides and refinishing furniture, but more importantly, being 'Pappy' to his grandchildren.
Al was a past member of the Forest City Police Reserves, a retiree of the Woden Fire Department and was currently on the church council of the Woden Christian Reformed Church. Al was a people person and all that knew him would agree he loved to visit or just 'BS' a bit. He was very willing to give of his time to help others.
Allen D. Dirksen, 70, of rural Titonka, passed away December 7th, 2020 at Kossuth Regional Health Center under Hospice Care. Al was diagnosed with multiple myeloma on November 7th, 2020 and passed away exactly one month later.
He is survived by his wife of 35 years, Lisa; children, Brad Dirksen of Coon Rapids, MN, Shannon (Jeremy) Herrick of Austin, MN, Lacey (Justin) Huisman of Osage, IA. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Blake Dirksen, Madison & Jacob Herrick, and Sophia & Henry Huisman; three brothers, George Dirksen, Larry Dirksen and Dennis (Rosie) Dirksen; one sister Janice (Gerald) Meyer; and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents; sister-in-law, Ruth Dirksen; father-in-law, Dale Helmers; brothers-in-law, Richard (Dick) Jensvold, and David Harms.
A special thank you to Hospice of the Heartland KRHC 3rd Floor nurses for their excellent care during his short stay. Also, a special thank you to Shelly Harms for holding our hands and walking this journey with us. We are forever grateful.
Our hope is someone's holiday is a little brighter with Al's final gift of organ donation.