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Meet Pockey Weseman - Super Senior Grand Marshal

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Delos "Pockey" Weseman (above) has donated hundreds of handcrafted checkerboards. (Press photo by Caroline Rosacker)

By Caroline Rosacker

Longtime Guttenberg resident Delos “Pockey” Weseman, 98, has been chosen as this year's Stars and Stripes Super Senior Grand Marshal. He will take part in the parade on Saturday, July 2, at 7 p.m.

Weseman served his country in the U.S. Navy,  was a past member of the Guttenberg city council, and American Legion 373 Commander twice. His late wife, Katherine, worked for the City of Guttenberg as Deputy City Clerk and Assistant City Manager for over 22 years.

"I was on the city council when we voted in the flood control project. I served one term. In those days a term was two years," he noted. 

Hometown carpenter

Weseman spent his working years as a carpenter. "I started out in high school and worked for a carpenter in the summer. I liked it and stayed with it," he commented. "I worked for different people, but was eventually self-employed the last years of my working life. I worked on an awful lot of homes here in Guttenberg, and built a couple myself." 

Weseman has two daughters, Judy and Barbara, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He lives at home independently. "I am so grateful for my family," he proudly shared. "Barbara, who lives in town, takes such good care of me. She is my right-hand man."

Healthy lifestyle

The Super Senior attributes his longevity to good genes, a healthy diet and a daily exercise regime.  

"My parents and grandparents lived to be in their nineties. My mother was 98, and my grandmother was 96 when they passed away," he noted.  

Weseman begins each day with a healthy breakfast. "I always eat a good breakfast – oatmeal and a banana," he said with a smile. "I'm on the frozen meal plan with meal site, and Barbara and I go to Sodes – part of the Iowa Cafe' for seniors and The Stadium for a good meal on weekends." 

Daily range of motion exercises keeps Weseman in tip-top shape. "I used to do a lot of walking, but I get very little exercise since I am tied to this walker," he told The Press. "I am very faithful to my arm, back and shoulder exercises. I do them several times a day. They keep me strong and limber." 

Weseman also exercises his mind with word search puzzles. "I work on a lot of these puzzle books. They are good for my eyes, my mind and my spelling," he chuckled. "I would spell a lot of the words different than they do!"

Checkerboards

Weseman's handcrafted checkerboards and checkers are functional and often described as works of art. "I purchase my wood from Rick Rosacker. I cut it up into checkerboards. The design has to be glued together," he explained. "If the weather is decent and I feel pretty good I can spend six-hours a day working on them. There is a lot of work involved in just one."

He went on to say, "I donate them to whoever wants them. I started out donating them to St. Mary's Fall Festival. It snowballed from there. If I know of anyone that wants a checkerboard for a fundraiser I will donate one." 

Weseman concluded, "I consider it an honor to be chosen as the Super Senior Grand Marshal!"

 

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