WHITNEY, Leila

WHITNEY, HONSBRUCH, BUDDENHAGEN, CALDERWOOD, FRASER, RUCKY, MOURIN, OERTWIG, CHRISTENSEN

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 6/11/2007 at 09:01:19

Cherokee Chronicle Times, Monday, June 4, 2007

Lelia Whitney, 90, of Aurelia, died Monday, May 21, 2007, at the Sunset Knoll Care and Rehab Center in Aurelia, where she had resided for the last thirteen years. Funeral services were held at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Aurelia, with Pastor Larry Lemke officiating.

Burial was at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, rural Aurelia.

Lelia Leona Wilma Honsbruch was born Jan. 27, 1917, the daughter of William and Rose (Buddenhagen) Honsbruch at Aurelia. She graduated from the Aurelia High School in 1934 as class valedictorian, and 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.

She 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 and Vacation Bible School teacher, and on the Building Committee. She was also a member of the band boosters, Women's Club, the Aurelia Centennial Committee, and was both a 4H and Cub Scout leader.

Preceding her 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, Ariz., June Whitney of St. Paul, Minn., 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.