Mrs. FAY (Marion Erhardt) Kirkestue WICKHAM 1915-1997

BURROW, ERHARDT, KIRKESTUE, WICKHAM, KOSTMAN, ASHBACHER, LANSING, SEBASTIAN, FOELS, SNITKER, DREIER, NEWTON

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 4/8/2007 at 14:40:52

Marion Madeline Wickham

Funeral services for Mrs. Marion Wickham were held Saturday, March 8, 1997 at 11 a.m. at the Community Presbyterian Church in Postville, Iowa. The Rev. Gary Catterson officiated. The organist was Priscilla Miene. The Schutte Funeral Service of Postville was in charge of arrangements. Burial was at God's Acre Cemetery, Clermont, Iowa.

Marion Madeline Wickham, the daughter of David and Ida (Burrow) Erhardt, was born on June 24, 1915 in Fayette County north of Clermont. She died Tuesday, March 4, 1997, in St. Vincent's Hospital at Billings, Montana. She had reached the age of 81.

She was baptized in 1933 at the Elgin Baptist Church. Marion received her education in the rural schools of Fayette County.

On August 19, 1935 she was married to Glenn Kirkestue. They had three children, Caroline, Linda and Betty. The couple farmed with Glenn's parents near Ossian. This is also where Marion helped operate the Kirkestue Switch, which was one of the first rural telephone services. Later they moved to the Burrow farm and then later to the David Erhardt farm near Clermont where they lived until Glenn's death in 1954. At this time Marion moved to Postville.

On June 6, 1963 she married Fay Wickham. They lived in Rockford, Iowa until Fay retired from the Rock Island Railroad in 1977. The couple moved back to Postville and enjoyed traveling in the winter to Arizona and California and in the summer to Montana. Marion always enjoyed fishing and collecting rocks.

Marion was an active member in the United Methodist Church and the United Methodist Women in Castalia and the Castalia Senior Citizen KEW Club, until she was no longer able to drive. Since then she has been attending the Presbyterian Church in Postville.

She is preceded in death by her husbands, Glenn Kirkestue and Fay Wickham, her parents, two brothers, Fred and Raymond Erhardt, two sisters, Clara Kostman and Florence Ashbacher and two grandchildren, Jenny and Jack Lansing.

Surviving are her daughters, Caroline and her husband, Fred Lansing of Billings, Montana; Linda and her husband, Milo Sebastian; and Betty and her husband, Calvin Foels, all of Postville; two stepchildren, Frank Wickham and wife, Phyllis of New Hampton and Sharon and husband, Grant Snitker of Waukon; seven grandchildren: Julie Richmond and Jan Lansing, Kelly and John Sebastian, Laurie Thompson, Michael and Steven Foels; and several step-grandchildren; two sisters, Frances Dreier of Postville,and Anna Mae Newton of Waterloo; one brother, Frank Erhardt of Jesup, and a host of other relatives and friends.

Casketbearers were Michael Foels, Kelly Sebastian, Steven Foels, Jay Lansing, John Sebastian and Rick Richmond.

Honorary casketbearer was Brent Thompson.

Postville Herald newspaper clipping from my mother's obituary collection.
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