Slife, Edith 1913-2008

SLIFE, ALDRICH

Posted By: Mary Holub, volunteer (email)
Date: 2/27/2008 at 22:08:41

HAWARDEN, Iowa -- Edith Slife, 94, of Hawarden died Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, at Hillcrest Health Care Center in Hawarden.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Hawarden, with Monsignor Michael Sernett officiating. Burial will be in Grace Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be noon to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Porter Funeral Home in Hawarden. There will be a prayer service at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the church.

Edith Slife, the daughter of Eber L. and Carolyn Aldrich, was born in Cherokee, Iowa, on July 27, 1913. At an early age, the family moved to Boone, Iowa, where she attended public school and parochial schools, graduating from Sacred Heart School in 1930. She found work in a grocery store as a checkout girl for the most part of five years. In the meantime, the family moved to Hawarden, Iowa, where she joined them and was employed by J.C. Penney Co. for five years. In 1943, she went to work at Farmers State Bank as a teller and bookkeeper. She joined the National Association of Bank Women, and later served as vice president and president of the Iowa group.

Edith retired from active banking in 1976 as vice president, cashier and loan officer, but continued to serve on the board of directors and as secretary. She retired from the bank board in 2001 after 58 years in the banking business. She married Earl Slife Sr. in 1954, the longtime bank president. He passed away in 1993.

Edith was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church, was active in the Guild and served on the church council, and as a lay director and eucharistic minister. She also represented the parish by serving in various offices of the Northwest Iowa Deanery of Catholic Women.

In community service, Edith helped organize the United Good Neighbors, serving as treasurer for 18 years. She also served on the Sioux County Board of Health for 16 years and as treasurer of the BSRV Historical Society for 15 years. She was instrumental in acquiring the Historical House for the Society, which now houses the picture collection and many furnishings donated by members of the community. She was a lifetime member of the Historical Society and the hospital auxiliary. She also helped to acquire the building now used as the Auxiliary Thrift Shop.

She is survived by a brother, Eugene and wife, Veronica; a stepdaughter-in-law, LaVonne Slife of Hawarden; sisters-in-law, Helen Aldrich of Webster, N.Y., Mary Aldrich of Sioux Center, Iowa, and Dorothy Aldrich of Oceanside, Calif.; nine stepgrandchildren; 23 great-stepgrandchildren; and six great-great-stepgrandchildren; as well as 16 nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; five brothers, Joseph, Tony, Glenn, Edward and Robert. Earl's younger son, Harry and his wife, Polly were both killed in an automobile accident a few months after his father passed away. Earl's other son, Earl V. Slife Jr., died in July of 2007.

In lieu of flowers, the family prefers that memorials be directed to the West Sioux Educational Foundation or the Hospice of Siouxland.

~Source: The Sioux City Journal, Jan. 28, 2008