Naden, Lela (1915-2007)

NADEN, VAN ENGEN, VAN DER VELDE, PURVIS, LARSON, STURTZ, STEVENS, MIEDEMA, GUZMAN, BOYD, COPPOLA, HUNTOON

Posted By: Colleen J. Ossman (email)
Date: 5/6/2009 at 14:42:02

Webster City Freeman Journal, June 4, 2007

Lela Naden, 92, former Webster City resident, died May 30, 2007 in Elizabeth, Colorado. A Celebration of life service will be held at the Asbury United Methodist Church on Saturday, June 9th at 2:00 PM with her son-in-law, Pastor Tom Purvis, officiating. Visitation will be Friday, June 8th from 5 to 8 PM at Foster’s Funeral Home. Private burial will be at Graceland Cemetery prior to the service.

Lela Van Engen was born January 30, 1915 to Evertt and Dora Van der Velde Van Engen at Prairie City, Iowa. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Webster City, received her B.A. degree from the University of Northern Iowa, and her M.A. degree from the University of Iowa. She taught in Jesup, Iowa City, and in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming.

She married Gardner Naden, July 25, 1944 in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Naden died May 30, 1988 in Moscow, Russia, on a People to People tour. He was president of Naden Industries, Inc.

Daughters and sons-in-law are: Dorothy Ann (Tom) Purvis, Elizabeth, Colorado; Nancy (Al) Larson, Reston, Virginia; Mary (Pat) Sturtz, Manson, Iowa; Beth (Don) Stevens, Tampa, Florida. Grandchildren are: Dan (Juliet) Purvis, Janet (Luke) Miedema, Nathan Larson, Lara (Ron) Guzman, Philip Larson, David (Janelle) Sturtz, Christy (Ryan) Marini, Katharine Sturtz, Korrin Stevens, and Gregory Stevens. Great-grandchildren are: Bennett Purvis and Riley Guzman.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, sisters, Dorothy and Irene, and a brother, Gale. She is survived by sisters, Phyllis Van Engen of Denver, Colorado; Shirlee Boyd of Portland, Oregon; a brother Evertt (Sandy) Van Engen of Colorado Springs, Colorado; sister-in-law Doris Coppola of Waukee, Iowa; brother-in-law Don Huntoon of Des Moines, Iowa; and many nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Naden was a member of the Asbury United Methodist Church, the Order of the Knoll at Iowa State, University of Iowa Alumni Association, Pi Lambda Theta, Hedonist Club, Webster City Past Presidents of Women’s Club, and the American Association of University Women. She was a life member of the Hamilton Hospital Association and the Hamilton County Historical Society.

Mrs. Naden and her husband’s love of traveling took them to six continents and every state in the United States. They had been to Europe several times, took a freighter to Australia and New Zealand, and a mail boat through the fjords of Norway. Lela also enjoyed “Semester at Sea” cruises around the world, to South America, and through the Baltic Sea.

After residing in Webster City, Mrs. Naden lived in Arlington Place in Pocahontas, Iowa, the Village in Centennial, Colorado, and with her daughter and son-in-law in Elizabeth, Colorado.