Neal A. Rabe, 76, of Belmond, IA, passed away peacefully at his home in Belmond, IA, on January 7, 2026. A public funeral service will be held on Monday, January 12, 2026, at 10:30 AM at Trinity Lutheran Church, 304 3rd Ave. N.E., Belmond, IA. The Reverend Katie Pals will be officiating. Burial will be in the Belmond Cemetery. Public visitation will be on Sunday from 3-6 PM at the Andrews Funeral Home, 516 1st St. S.E., Belmond. The family will greet friends and family one hour before the funeral service at the Church as well. For those unable to attend in person, Neal’s funeral service will be live-streamed on Monday morning. The service may be viewed on the Andrews Funeral Home or Trinity Lutheran Church of Belmond Facebook pages.
Neal Allen Rabe was born August 7, 1949 at St Joseph’s Hospital in Waverly, IA. He was then adopted by his parents, William and Lorine (Hoppel) Rabe and lived in Goodell, IA. Neal went on to grow up in the Belmond, Iowa area, attended Belmond Community Schools and graduated from Belmond High School in 1968. Neal went on to become a skilled electrician, starting as a journeyman electrician at Packard Electric in Belmond and then eventually owning and operating his own business, Rabe Electric, for a time. In 1981, Neal began a 28-year career as a maintenance technician at Eaton Corporation, where he was one of the very first employees when the company came to Belmond. In 2009 he was offered an early retirement package and he retired from Eaton after many years of 7-day workweeks. Throughout his long career at Eaton, Neal built countless friendships with coworkers and was appreciated by many.
On July 17, 1971, he was united in marriage to Cindy Trees, at the St. John Lutheran Church in Belmond, IA. Their union was blessed with two wonderful children, Jeffrey Paul and Krista Ann. As a family, they enjoyed various fishing excursions to Canada, Brainerd, MN, and Yellow Lake, Wisc. Neal cherished being a husband and father and took great pride in his family’s accomplishments. In later years, he joyfully embraced his favorite title of “Papa Rabe.” After Cindy’s passing in 2004, Neal spent several years on his own journey before meeting and marrying his wife, Kristina “Tina” Cook, July 3, 2012 at Tina’s uncle Ted’s (Watne) Farm, in Belmond, IA. Together they shared many happy years, and Tina’s children, Jordan and Keyra were then blessed with a very loving step-father. Neal and Tina enjoyed each other’s companionship, listening to music and whatever was on the agenda for the day.
Neal was very passionate about and found solace in anything nature and was an avid bird-watcher. He used his woodworking skills to build many bird-houses/bird-condos that adorned his deck and yard over the years and could name any kind of bird that was lucky enough to land on his creation. In the last few years, he preferred to hang out in and sometimes sleep in his hammock – inside a “very well-accommodated” outdoor lodge that he had built in the backyard. He was excellent with his hands and could build or fix anything. He also enjoyed fishing trips with family and friends and bow hunting for that elusive whitetail deer. Following his retirement from Eaton, one might see Neal tooling around Belmond on his recumbent bike, his camera in hand, with a zoom lens that could reach the solar system. He strived to be an expert amateur photographer and was always hunting for that perfect picture of wildlife, flowers, or the beautiful smile on someone’s face.
In truth, Neal was “Papa Rabe” to far more than just his family, and did he love that! Papa Rabe liked to visit Tina, Jeff and Krista’s workplaces – walking around like he owned the place, talking to anyone and everyone he could find . After retiring he did some odd jobs for Gabrielson Clinic for Women, which involved traveling to other clinics and doing maintenance type work and was an occasional courier between clinics as well. This part time gig is where his “flirtacious” quality just shined! He would smile ear to ear while giving those nurses as many compliments as he could come up with! He was Papa Rabe to all the grandkids, Keyra’s friends, and the neighbors and their kids. Sharing that same personality wherever he was, whomever he encountered. One could also see and hear him coming – he was loud and proud to walk about the world in his staple wardrobe item – the bib overalls. The bibs usually required a special hat of choice and the biggest smile he had. He was who he was, to every single person he encountered, and definitely one-of-a-kind!
Neal was a proud member of the Belmond Volunteer Fire Department for 8 years in the 80’s. He would regularly stop down at the station after retiring to catch up with the guys and all the big town happenings. It is also certain that he was a VIP customer at True Value – he always had a project or 10 going on at once!
Neal will be remembered fondly as a man full of orneriness, who never met a stranger. If he were your friend, you had a friend for life. Neal was social by nature and could strike up a conversation with a fencepost. His unique wit and sense of humor always made for fun-filled conversation, as one never really knew what he might say or come up with next. He was very resourceful and loved others wholeheartedly. If you found yourself on the receiving end of Neal giving you a hard time, you knew you were his friend, and that he liked you. He literally “lived” to give people crap!
His memory will be carried forward by his surviving wife Kristina “Tina” Cook-Rabe, of Belmond, IA; his son Jeffrey (Kari) Rabe and their kids Jackson Rabe-13 and Kamryn Pruismann-22, of Webster City, IA; his daughter Krista (Nathan) Ysker and their kids Molly Hartwig-22, Ryan Hartwig-18, Khloe Ysker-12, and Kassidy Ysker-11, of Belmond, IA; step-daughter Keyra (Cole) Kelley and their kids Brynlee Kelley-4 and Bennett Kelley -2, of Belmond, IA; step-son Jordan Cook and his kids Patrick Cook-12, Moxley Cook-10, and Evelynn Cook-6, of Belmond, IA; sisters-in-law Candy (Ron) Fjetland, of Clarion, IA and Diane Erickson (Clint Benson), of Iowa Falls, IA; and brother-in-law Mike (Colleen) Trees, of Belmond, IA; along with many nieces, nephews, other extended family and countless friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his beloved wife Cindy Rabe, his brother-in-law, Terry Trees, his father and mothers-in-law, Paul and Marjorie Trees, and mother-in-law, Sonja Lobdell.
Those wishing to express their sympathies through a memorial in Neal’s name may be sent to: In Care of the Neal Rabe Family, 403 6th St. NE, Belmond, IA 50421 to use or donate as they wish.
Andrews Funeral Homes, Belmond, IA. http://www.
