Obituary of Elsie Earnest

Elsie Earnest, formerly of Coralville, died Monday, April 11, 2005, at Pleasantview Home in Kalona, Iowa at the age of 100. Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, April 14, 2005, at the First Mennonite Church of Iowa City. Reverends Robert and Margaret Smith and Chaplin David Yoder will officiate. Entombment will be held prior to the service at 9:30 a.m. at Memory Garden Cemetery Mausoleum in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 pm today at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. Memorial donations can be made in her memory to Pleasantview Home in Kalona. Online condolences may be sent for Elsie’s family through our website @www.gayandciha.com. Elsie was the eldest of eight children, one son and seven daughters, was born November 25, 1904, to John I. and Mary Birkey Stutzman, who lived on a farm near Milford, Nebraska, Elsie accepted Christ as her savior and was baptized as a member of East Fairview Mennonite Church near Milford, Nebraska. On November 24, 1926, she was united in marriage to Elmer Earnest of Milford. They farmed west of Milford for almost twenty years and raised their family their. In 1945, they purchased a farm near Wayland, Iowa where they lived and farmed until 1967, when they retired and moved to a new home in Coralville to be near part of the family. They then became members of the First Mennonite Church of Iowa City. In 1987, they moved to the home for the elderly, the Pleasantview Home in Kalona, Iowa. After Elmer passed away in 1991, she continued to reside in Kalona participating actively in daily activities. She loved to quilt, making many for her daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She also enjoyed reading and always had a book to read and a picture puzzle to put together. Her family includes three daughters, Mrs. Arlene Kremer of Sun Lakes, AZ, Ina and her husband, Ferman Rediger of Dorchester, NE, Ruth and husband, Lowell Leichty of Coralville, IA; two sons, Don and wife, Karla of Coralville, Ron and wife, Kelly, of Marquette. Three sisters, Wilma Roth of Fort Wayne, IN, Pearl and husband, Joe Beachy of Kalona, and Doris Saltzman of Milford, NE. Her family also includes 18 grandchildren, 27 great-grand children and 3 great-great grandchildren. Elsie was preceded in death by her husband, Elmer; son in-law, Bernard Kremer, husband of Arlene; daughter-in-law Elaine Earnest, wife of Don; three sisters, one brother and two great-grandchildren. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Elsie’s family and her services.