Donald I. Wietharn

Donald Ignatius Wietharn, age 90, of Topeka, Kansas, passed away peacefully with family at his home on February 24, 2025. Born June 21, 1934, to Edwin and Irmena (Rettle) Wietharn, Don was the third eldest of fourteen children born and raised on the Wietharn family farm near Baileyville, Kansas.

Don attended Sacred Heart Catholic Grade School in Baileyville, Kansas, until the eighth grade at which time he needed to help on the family farm. He served in the United States Army from 1955 to 1957. Don married Alice Marie Heinen at St. Bede’s Catholic Church in Kelly, Kansas, on September 17, 1957. They were blessed with 67 years of marriage. 

Don and Alice lived in Topeka, Kansas, for the first year of marriage and then moved to a farm near Axtell, Kansas, from 1958 to 1961. They moved back to Topeka where Don worked for Goodyear from 1961 to 1964. Don then purchased his first truck and commenced hauling aggregate materials which began a successful fifty-year trucking career complete with mischief and a few misdemeanors. He especially enjoyed hauling asphalt, taking pride in all the highways he helped construct. During his trucking career, the family was based in Topeka, Kansas; Lincoln, Kansas; and finally, the family farm near Baileyville, Kansas, where Don also grew milo, wheat, and soybeans. In the spring of 1988, Don and Alice sold the farm and made their home in Seneca, Kansas until 1992 when they returned to Topeka. At the time of his retirement at the age of 79, Don was driving part time for Native Stone delivering landscaping rock to the Kansas City area. Don was a member of Christ the King Parish and the Knights of Columbus Council #8411. He enjoyed his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, golfing and bike riding especially with his brother, Marion.

Don is survived by his wife, Alice; children, Michael Wietharn, Columbia, Missouri; Douglas Wietharn (Mary) St. Marys, Kansas; Jacqueline Siess, Tecumseh, Kansas; twins Tamera Steinlage (Steve) Goff, Kansas, and Timothy Wietharn (Shauna) Topeka, Kansas; and Chris Wietharn, Gladstone, Missouri; seventeen grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren; siblings, Phyllis Burger, Dee Heideman, Bill Wietharn (Kay), Jane Niehaus (Frank), Gerri Lierz, Lynn Wietharn (Ruth), Keith Wietharn (Judy), Sue Wassenburg (Bob), Darlene Slattery (Jerry) and Max Wietharn. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers Galen, Marion and Albert; infant great-grandchildren Blayke Farrell and Theo Baker; and brothers-in-law, Kenny Burger, Lee Heideman, and Robert Lierz.

Don will lie in state from 5-7:00 P.M., on Monday, March 3, 2025, with a Knights of Columbus Council #8411 rosary being prayed at 6:00 P.M.

A parish rosary will be prayed at 10:00 A.M., on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, followed by a Mass of Christian Burial being celebrated at 10:30 A.M., at Christ the King Church, 5973 SW 25th Street, Topeka, KS 66614, and will be live streamed on the funeral home Facebook page. Interment will be at a later date in St. Bede’s Catholic Church Cemetery, Kelly, Kansas. 

To share a memory or to leave condolences, please visit, www.brennanmathenafh.com.

Arrangements entrusted to Brennan-Mathena Funeral Home, 800 SW 6th Ave., Topeka, KS 66603.