Willie Earl See, forever known as " Bill See", 95 of Nevada, Iowa, passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family on February 16, 2023. Bill was born on the family farm south of Nevada on May 3, 1927, to Clarence and Donna A. (Minear) See.

Bill attended school at a country schoolhouse not far from his home and helped on his family's farm. Bill learned what work was helping pick corn by hand with his parents, their wagon pulled by a team of horses. He eventually branched out on his own as an agricultural entrepreneur. He owned and operated a pair of the earliest square balers and, with hired hands, baled hay for neighbors and other farmers around the area. He acquired a corn sheller and then two of them and added a small fleet of trucks. Operating with a crew of available hired hands and, along with a rotation of his available children, Bill and his crew shelled corn and custom hauled commodities for other farmers and local businesses. As his business grew, and things sometimes broke, Bill's trips to the repair shop led him to purchase and operate the welding shop that once occupied a building at the corner of 6th Street and N. Avenue in Nevada.

When the combine was invented, the shellers became combines and the small trucks became semis and See's Grain Service was born. Bill acquired a grain dealers license and hauled, as well as purchased and sold grain. He continued to farm and at one time, extended his crop acres from near Aplington in Butler County to around Osceola in Clarke County driving the equipment from one farm to another.

Bill and Donna also purchased and operated what was known as the Shipley Elevator between Cambridge and Nevada. See's Grain Service expanded to include storage of grain. In his lifetime, Bill also raised cattle and hogs. His miles travelled in a truck are unmeasured but without a doubt are in the millions. He continued farming and driving a semi up to and until only months before his death. The word "retirement" was not in his vocabulary but "git r done" was. Bill never let up, he used up more than his allotted nine lives and performed miracles surviving accidents including a couple tractor rollovers. A payloader without a cab or rollover protection once rolled over him and he somehow kept his body in the only small space that kept him from being crushed. Yet again and years later, a close call came when he was once given a misdiagnosis of cancer that took him to Mayo Clinic for treatment and surgery. There, Bill learned that his diagnosis was in fact not cancer after all and after a brief recovery it was back to the farm.

Bill somehow always landed on his feet. Whether the challenge was physical, farming or financial, he re-emerged again and again to brush off the dust and lead us all to believe that he would never die.

His final battle extended well beyond his doctor's predictions. It wasn't until his final few days that Bill even started to think that he might not plant or harvest another crop.

Bill is survived by his wife of 65 years, Donna (Nibe) See. His nine children, Arlo (Deb) of Casper, Wyoming, Kerry (Linda) of Marshalltown, Curtis (Becky) of Brownwood, TX, Deborah (Dennis) See-Colgan of Enumclaw, Washington, David Gibbs (Diane) of The Villages, FL, Mark (Barb) See of Nevada, Linda (David) Nesbit, Polk City, IA, Laure Nagle, (Rick Rutter) of Nevada and Harold (Kristie) See of Nevada. 27 grandchildren, 34 great grandchildren and one great great grandchild.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Betty Jane Mathews, his eldest son, Allan See, one grandson, Chris Allan See and one granddaughter, Ellen Boyd.

Visitation will be held from 11a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, February 24, 2023, at Rasmusson-Ryan Funeral Home (1418 Fawcett Pkwy) in Nevada, Iowa with a funeral service following at 1:00 p.m.

Memorial contributions will be donated by the family to the Nevada High School FFA Program.

Rasmusson-Ryan Funeral Home in Nevada is handling arrangements. Condolences may be sent to the family online at rasmussonfh.com.