Kenner, Mary Isabelle 1908-2005

KENNER, VANDERVEER, ANTHONY, JOHNSON, SAUNDERS, CLOYD

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 7/2/2010 at 14:19:54

Brooklyn Chronicle (Brooklyn, Iowa) March 30, 2005

MARY I. KENNER, 96

Mary I. Kenner, 96, of Tama, died on March 21, 2005.

Funeral services were held at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, at Chelsea United Methodist Church, Chelsea. The Rev. Charles Johnson officiated; organist was Judy Ochs; and vocalists were Jackie Dvorak and Stephanie Johnson. Casket bearers were Max Beck, Edgar Cloyd, Jeff Johnson, Bernard Upah, James Johnson, and Richard Anthony. Interment was in Sheridan Cemetery, Malcom.

Mary Isabelle Anthony Kenner, daughter of Ada (Vanderveer) and Lincoln Anthony, was born July 19, 1908, at the rural home of her parents. She attended country school in Sheridan township. After graduating from Grinnell High School in 1927, she taught rural schools in Tama county.

She married Harry Kenner at the Methodist parsonage in Toledo on October 10, 1928. She lovingly referred to Harry as "Uncle Crumb." The couple worked as farm hands for several years in the Sheridan and Chelsea communities before purchasing their own farm. Mary was proud that she used her teaching salary to buy their first tractor. She worked beside her husband in their farming operation, planting crops, milking and caring for their chickens and ducks; and she was especially proud of all their pets. One dog in particular loved ice cream and seemed to know that when the freezer door opened he was in for a treat.

Mary was a loving aunt who took to heart the Scripture in Romans, "Rejoice with all who rejoice, and sympathize with those whose sorrows overtake them." Family was always welcomed into her home, and she lovingly cared for both her mother and mother-in-law for many years. That love and care was returned to her many fold by her nephew and wife, Jim and Marilyn Johnson. Mary loved to wear rings, and one of her lifelong heartaches was the fact that her own diamond was lost in the fire that destroyed their home in Sheridan in 1937. The record of the fire is one of the clippings she had kept in a scrapbook of family events dating back to 1925. Harry and Mary never had children of their own, but they treated nieces and nephews like each was a "favorite."

They retired from farming in 1972 and moved into Chelsea, up the street from the Methodist church where she took part in many activities as long as her health permitted. After Harry's death in 1981, she eventually moved to Prairie Village in Tama, and after a fall and a broken hip, she resided at Sunny Hill Care Center where she passed away.

She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; four brothers, Emory, Ray, Leslie, and David Anthony; and three sisters, Hazel Saunders, Myrtle Cloyd, and Laura Johnson. She leaves to grieve her passing many nieces and nephews.