Area Obituaries

Laurance Marion Bishop was born in Minnesota on June 24, 1929. His parents were Ross Eber and Olive Moffett Bishop. He was also welcomed by older brother, James Donovan and older sisters, Marjorie Aletha and Elizabeth Patricia. The family moved to Mount Ayr when he was very young. Laurance passed away on January 6, 2019…

Freeda Faust, 89, passed away December 25, 2018 at Chariton Specialty Care. Funeral services was Friday, January 4, 2019 at 10:30 a.m. at the Pierschbacher Funeral Home in Chariton. Family  received friends Thursday, January 3 from 4:00 until 6:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Interment was at the Rose Hill Cemetery in Mount Ayr. Freeda…

Donna K. Smith was born May 12, 1961 to Donald and Doris (Burgher) Hinton in Clarinda, IA. She passed away on December 23, 2018. She graduated high school in Lenox, IA in 1979. Continuing her education, she graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Distributive Studies, interning her fourth year…

Vivian Jackson, 88, of Pleasant Hill, passed away January 2, 2019 at her home. Vivian was born August 6, 1930 in Jones County, the youngest of six children to Clarence and Ada (Streeper) First. She graduated from high school and attended nurses training at the University of Iowa which she suspended to marry Herb Jackson…

Charles “Chuck” Eugene Sobotka left this life to live with Jesus on Sunday, December 30, 2018 at Iowa River Hospice Home following a brief battle with cancer. Chuck was born on the family farm southwest of Diagonal, Iowa on March 27, 1933 to Andrew and Eva Driskell Sobotka. Funeral services for Chuck was Thursday, January…

Kellie Lynn (Reed) Groft, 56, passed away Wednesday, December 19, 2018 in Lincoln Nebraska. She was born February 1, 1962, to Joe and Gloria (Grose) Reed. Kellie grew up in LeMars Iowa and attended the University of South Dakota, where she studied music and the arts. For many years Kellie worked with adults who had…

Roberta Arlene Sobotka was born to Donald and Esther Johnston Butt on February 8, 1936 northeast of Diagonal on her grandparent’s farm. She grew up in rural Diagonal and graduated from Diagonal High School in 1954. With her friend, Reba Rychnovsky, Arlene headed for the big city of Des Moines and worked for Meredith Corporation.…

Helen Maxine McGahuey, daughter of Omer “Casey” and Jenny (Kinder) Holtzman, was born May 14, 1924 in Ringgold County, IA. Helen always lived in Ringgold County, and mostly in Mount Ayr. She attended Mount Ayr Community School and graduated from Mount Ayr High School. On June 25, 1941, she was united in marriage to Charles…

Curtiss Lee Stamps, one of eight children, was born February 13, 1934 to Ray and Reva (McCoy) Stamps. The family moved to a farm near Gus, IA where Curtiss grew to adulthood and graduated from Gravity High School in 1952. He worked a variety of jobs as a young man including helping on the family…

James Martin Neas, the oldest of Pearl and Lela (Martin) Neas’s three sons, was born March 29, 1932 in Garden City, Kansas. The family lived in Kansas until 1940 when they moved to the Redding, Iowa area; settling on a farm northwest of Redding that would be home for most of Jim’s life. Jim attended…

Glenda Rose Hall-Marlow, daughter of Albert Hall and Cora Fertig-Hall was born on September 22, 1938 in Benton, Iowa. She departed on November 1, 2018 in Lodi, California at the age of 80 years old. Glenda was number nine of eleven children and grew up in Benton, Iowa on their family farm known as Happy…