Edith (Ham) Polder 1915-2008

LIMBACK, HAM, POLDERBOER, POLDER, HOUSE, THACHER, LEDERER, BRENNE, WHITAKER, DYER

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 3/12/2008 at 08:22:36

Edith Ham Polder

DYERSVILLE, Iowa -- Edith Ham Polder, 92, of Dyersville, died Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008, at Chateau Royale, Worthington, following a brief illness.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Francis Xavier Basilica, Dyersville, with the Rev. Don Hertges officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Friends may call from 3 to 6 p.m. today at Kramer Funeral Home, Dyersville, where there will be a parish scripture service at 4 p.m.

She was born on Jan. 14, 1915, at her family home in Dyersville, daughter of George and Florence (Limback) Ham. She attended Xavier grade and high school, graduating in 1932. Following graduation, she took courses at Iowa State Teachers College and Loras College.

Edith taught third grade at Xavier Elementary School, one year at Columbus Rural School and five years at the Olberding Rural School.

She married Emmett Polderboer on Aug. 22, 1940, at St. Patrick's Rectory in Washington D.C. In 1950, the name Polderboer was reduced to Polder. After leaving Washington D.C. in 1941, she resided in Lansing (Iowa), for one year and in Marion for four years. She returned to Dyersville in 1946, and remained there until her final illness and then resided at Chateau Royale in Worthington.

Edith was interested in music, nature study and conservation. She was a past member of the Dubuque Conservation Society, Iowa Ornithologists Union, American Wildlife Federation, the Dyersville Women's Club and the Dyersville Historical Society.

She enjoyed listening to piano concertos, violin concertos, orchestras and opera. Her other interests were literature and poetry, which she sometimes recited in public appearances.

After Edith's father's death in 1948, she acquired his agency with Aetna Insurance Co. and also served as Farm Loan correspondent for Equitable Life Insurance Society of New York and Mutual Benefit Insurance Co. of New Jersey. Following her mother's death, she continued management and rental of the Ham farm that her grandfather Ham had purchased in 1875. Edith was a lady with good judgment, empathy and integrity.

During her days of life, she witnessed great changes from the buggy whip to the micro-chip.

Surviving are her husband, Emmett; first cousins, Floyd House, of Aberdeen, S.D., Mary M. Thacher, of Stonington, Conn., and Ann Lederer, of Va.; sisters-in-law, Wilma Brenne, of River Forest, Ill., and Ruth Whitaker, of Allison; and nine nephews and nieces.

Of all of James Dyer's descendants, only Ann Dyer Limback, Florence Ham and Edith Polder remained to live their lives in the town he founded.

Copyright (c) Woodward Communications, Inc. 2008, All Rights Reserved. Dubuque Telegraph Herald, Tuesday, January 15, 2008