Mortensen, Mildred Jane (Mendenhall) 1938-2005

MORTENSEN, MENDENHALL, BURKEY, YOST, VILLALOBOS, ANDESON

Posted By: Bruce Atkinson (email)
Date: 8/27/2008 at 22:58:36

AKRON, Iowa -- Mildred J. Mortensen, 88, of Akron, formerly of Audubon, Iowa, passed away Saturday, Feb. 19, 2005, at Akron Care Center.
Services will be 2 p.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church in Audubon, with the Rev. Steven Frock officiating. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be after 3 p.m. today, with the family present after 6 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m., at Carlsen Funeral Home-Schroeder Chapel in Akron. Visitation will resume 1 p.m. until service time Thursday at the church.
Mildred Jane Mendenhall was born in Douglas Township, near Audubon, to Alda B. and Maude (Burkey) Mendenhall, on Jan. 2, 1917. She was baptized into the Christian Church. As a young child, the family moved to California. She attended school in Porterville and Tipton, Calif. Following graduation from high school, she worked in California.
She was united in marriage to Earl Otto Mortensen on March 3, 1938, in Atlantic, Iowa. The couple farmed near Audubon for several years. They later owned and operated a gas station, cafe and trucking business in Audubon. They later operated a motel in Audubon. After a number of years, they moved to Spencer, Iowa, and managed a Super 8 Motel and later the Grand Motel in Spencer. After a number of years, they moved to Storm Lake, Iowa, to manage the Lamplighter Motel. While in Storm Lake, they managed the Paradise Apartment complex for several years. She had also worked for the FSA with the Green Thumb Program. In 2002, they moved to Akron and in March 2004 became residents of Akron Care Center.
She was a member of First Methodist Church in Audubon, where she was a lifetime member of the United Methodist Women, She had taught Sunday School and was a Sunday School superintendent for several years. She had been a member of the TOPS Club in Spencer. While a resident of the care center, she enjoyed participating with the Bell Choir.
Survivors include her husband, Earl of Akron; three sons, Don Mortensen and his wife, Karen of Akron, Duane Mortensen and his wife, Mardelle of Altoona, Iowa, and Dennis Mortensen and his partner, Jeff Fancher of Sioux City; five grandchildren and spouses, Mike and Lynn Mortensen, Shelley and Chad Yost, Marc and JoAnne Mortensen, Jill and Leo Villalobos and Kevin and Allie Mortensen; 13 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; three brothers, Fred, Earl and her twin brother, Homer Mendenhall; a sister, Margaret Anderson; and a grandson, Corrie Mortensen.
Pallbearers will be Chad Yost, Michael, Mortensen, Marc Mortensen, Leo Villalobos, Kevin Mortensen, Merlin Mendenhall, Jerry Mendenhall, Robert Mortensen, Richard Mortensen, Dale Mortensen, Merlyn Mortensen and J.D. Mendenhall.

~ Sioux City Journal of 22 February 2005