Photo courtesy of Reiff Funeral Home - Cascade
Feb 5, 1963 - May 2, 2025
Our deepest sympathy to the Stecklein and Conrad families. So sorry to hear this as she was such a wonderful person. May all your wonderful memories of her sustain you at this sad time.
Barb Hacke
May 13, 2025 | Cascade, IA | Acquaintance
May the love of friends and family carry you through your grief.
Dan and Grace Elgin
May 12, 2025 | Acquaintance
May the love of friends and family carry you through your grief.
Bill and Lisa Leytem
May 09, 2025 | Classmate
She was truly an amazing person!! I worked with her for 10 years at the Monticello PO. She was full of life and energy. I always said, "I wish I had her energy". She was definitely the glue to her family and cherished each one. RIP Sandy!! My thoughts and prayers are with all of you!!
Brenda Bohlken
May 08, 2025 | Monticello, IA | Friend
Dan and Jackie was so sorry to hear about Sandy! I will be thinking and praying for you and your family!
Mary Clemen
May 06, 2025 | Suffolk, VA | Friend
Sandy is one of the best people I have known! After about 18 years of working together we knew each other fairly well. She always had my back and I never worried a second when I was gone and she was in charge! One of those people you knew would always be there if needed even though we didn’t talk that much after retirement. We did keep up with her life and her family through Facebook. I’ll miss her laugh. So very sorry for your families loss.
Dan & Janie Saunders
May 06, 2025 | Monticello, IA | Coworker
Sorry for your loss. Always helpful at the post office
Larita. Lolly Kurt
May 06, 2025 | Monticello, IA | Acquaintance
So sorry to hear about Sandy! Whenever I ran into her at the post office or clinic, she always had something fun to say about my parents and asked about my family. Sending our prayers your way.
Andrew and Megan Smith
May 05, 2025 | Monticello, IA | Friend
Such a beautiful soul! She was definitely a light in this world and will be so missed!
Deana and Butch Ahlers
May 05, 2025 | Worthington, IA | Friend
Sandra L. “Sandy” Stecklein, 62, of Cascade, Iowa, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Friday, May 2, 2025, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, Iowa.
A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, June 14, 2025, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Cascade American Legion in Cascade, Iowa. The Reiff Funeral Home is assisting the family with arrangements.
Sandy was born on February 5, 1963, in Dubuque, Iowa, daughter of Daniel and Jackie (Jaeger) Conrad. She was a graduate of Cascade High School in Cascade, Iowa. On July 31, 1982, she was united in marriage to Dale Stecklein at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Fillmore, Iowa. She was a member of St. John’s Parish in Placid, Iowa.
Sandy was a farm wife with many talents and the energy of her grandkids (which she often said she wished she had). She used her baking, cooking, and gardening skills to truly make their house a HOME to everyone that walked through the door. You were greeted with a smile, a big hello and offered a full meal. No one was a stranger or unwelcome in Sandy’s home (the funny farm). She took great pride and care in surrounding her home with brightly colored flowers that stood out when you drove down the lane, next to the laundry drying on the line.
She was an activities director at Shady Rest for 6 years and a devoted 4-H leader for Whitewater Jr. Farmers, but many people recognized Sandy as the smiling face behind the counter of the post office where she worked for 31 years, most of it in Monticello, Iowa. Sandy realized her career goal after retirement, when she landed a job working at the cafeteria at Cascade High School where she could see grandkids every day, and loved asking them all if they liked the lunch and letting them know what parts she had made for them.
When she wasn’t taking care of others, you could find her galivanting across the Amish countryside or chasing (literal) waterfalls with her many friends. She loved to host cards and dinners and made time for the friends in her life, especially Marilyn and Dawn. She loved to travel and took countless trips with Dale and good friends to warm places with beautiful beaches. She NEVER turned down a zip line. She was the life of the party, where you would no doubt find her out on the dance floor, smiling and singing to her favorite songs. Whether it was unplanned road trips in the summer with her sisters-in-law or summer trips to Buenie with her family, Sandy brought the fun and laughter.
Above all, she loved her family, and gave support and unconditional love. She was the player of board games, card games, and the pitcher in the yard. Sandy was the maker of field meals and baker of favorite treats. She loved Christmas, and shopped for everyone year-round, planning coordinating wrapping paper, group gifts, or hiding gifts in puzzles. The calendar on her wall was full with baseball, softball, volleyball, football, and soccer games, wrestling meets, and fairs. She organized and planned family vacations and farm camp outs with bounce houses, games, and slippery slides, easter egg hunts, and creek play, bonfires and fireworks. Grandma’s house meant food, fun, and comfort, hugs, kisses, and treats.
Those left to cherish Sandy’s memory are her husband, Dale Stecklein of Cascade; four children, Nathan (Nicole) Stecklein of Cascade, Jessica (Fiancé Mike Oberbroeckling) Stecklein of Bernard, Amy (Special friend, Nick Beenken) Stecklein of Cascade, and Adam (Kaleigh) Stecklein of Bernard; 11 grandchildren, Sam, Coe, Tad, and Mac Stecklein, Oakley Tigges and Rowyn Stepp, Bentley and Oliver Ahlers, Zayden Strief, Alexus McCormick and Quinn Stecklein; her parents, Daniel and Jackie Conrad of Cascade; one sister, Sheila (Dan) Kintzle of Delhi; one brother, Pete (Diana) Conrad of Epworth; mother-in-law, Barb Stecklein of Cascade; brothers and sisters-in-law, Dan Stecklein of Centennial, CO, Deborah (Marvin) Kleitsch of Monticello, Diane (Dennis) Flannagan of Hopkinton, Donna Yarolem, and Dennis (Jennie) Stecklein all of Cascade and many nieces and nephews.
She is preceded in death by her father-in-law, Clement H. Stecklein; one nephew, Matthew Boland.
A Video Tribute may be viewed, and online condolence may be sent to the family at www.reifffuneralhomeinc.com
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