LELIA
WHITNEY
Funeral services for Lelia
Whitney, 90, of Aurelia, will be 10:30 A.M. Saturday, May 26, 2007, at
the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Aurelia, with Pastor Larry Lemke
officiating. Burial will be in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, rural
Aurelia. Visitation will be Friday from 2:00 to 8:00, with the family
being present from 6:00 to 8:00, at the Redig Funeral Home in Aurelia. A
memorial fund has been established.
Lelia died Monday, May 21, 2007,
at the Sunset Knoll Care and Rehab Center in Aurelia where she had
resided since August of 1994.
Lelia Leona Honsbruch was born
January 27, 1917, the daughter of William and Rose (Buddenhagen)
Honsbruch at Aurelia. She graduated from the Aurelia High School in
1934 as class valedictorian. She attended the American Institute of
Business in Des Moines for one year, and Buena Vista College in Storm
Lake for one year. On April 6, 1941 she married Rex William Whitney at
St. Paul Lutheran Church in Aurelia. Over the years Lelia worked at the
Sheriff’s Department, First Trust and Savings Bank (where she was the
first female employee), Sunset Knoll Retirement Home, and Buena Vista
College. Lelia was an active member of the St. Paul Lutheran Church in
Aurelia where she was a member of the Ladies Aid, served as a Sunday
school teacher, and on the Building Committee. She was also a member of
the band boosters, Women’s Club, the Aurelia Centennial Committee, and
had been both a 4H and Cub Scout leader.
Preceding Lelia in death were
her parents, her husband Rex on April 24, 1998, two sisters, Elaine in
infancy and Violet Calderwood, and one brother, Merlin (Dutch) Honsbruch.
Survivors include her children,
Douglas Whitney and his wife Nancy Engler of Glendale, AZ, June Whitney
of St. Paul, MN, and Dan and his wife Janet Whitney of Aurelia. Also
surviving are six grandchildren, Rhonda and her husband Joseph Fraser,
David and his wife Jill Whitney, Jon Whitney and his wife Colleen Rucky,
Aaron Whitney and his fiancée Melissa Mourin, April Oertwig and Shaun
Oertwig, three great-grandchildren, Bella and Evan Whitney and Ava
Fraser, one sister-in-law, Patricia Honsbruch of Algona, one
brother-in-law, John Christensen of Cherokee, nieces and nephews, and
other relatives and friends.
