HARKEN, Harmka 1880-1977

HARKEN, FRERICHS, ABKES

Posted By: Tammy (email)
Date: 1/3/2017 at 15:37:53

Harmka Harken, 96, Died At Ackley

Mrs. W. K. Harken, 96, passed away on March 11, 1977, at the Presbyterian Home, Ackley, Ia.

Services were held at the West Friesland Presbyterian Church, rural Ackley, with burial in the church cemetery March 14, 1977. Pastor Kenneth Remer officiated at the services with the Brandt-Fritz Funeral Home in charge.

Harmka Frerichs was born on July 7, 1880, in Grundy County, 4 1/2 miles East of Ackley, Iowa, the daughter of Cornelius and Henrietta Abkes Frerichs. She attended country school in German Township.

On Feb. 6, 1901, she married Will K. Harken and to this union 8 children were born. They farmed on several locations in the Aplington and Ackley area until 1915 when they moved to a farm north of Wellsburg. From there, they retired in January, 1937, to live in Ackley.

As an infant, she was baptized in the Ackley Christian Reformed Church. After marriage, both Mr. and Mrs. Harken joined the West Friesland Presbyterian Church in 1903, where they were faithful members. Until a few months before her death, she was also an active member of the U.P.W. ladies organization, of which she was a charter member.

Due to failing health, she entered the Presbyterian Home on Feb. 16, 1977, where she passed away on March 11 at the age of 96.

She was preceded in death by her parents, 4 brothers, and 4 sisters; also her husband, W. K. Harken in 1956, 1 son Isebrandt in 1958, and 1 grandson, Gary Knavel. She is survived by 2 sisters, Mrs. Hannah Kramer and Katie, Mrs. Albert Shoeneman, both of Aplington. Also, 7 children: Henrietta, Mrs. Waldien Meyer, Ackley; Sarah, Mrs. Krene DeBerg, Bristow; Cornelia, Mrs. Claus DeBerg, Ackley; Mrs. Helen Knavel, Everett, Washington; Lester, Grundy Center; Raymond, Ackley; and Esther, Mrs. Ernest Harrison, Hampton. Also 25 grandchildren and 64 great-grandchildren.

--The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 17 March 1977, pg 9