Lyftogt, Ada, Mrs. Ben, 1901-1959

LYFTOGT, BAKKER, TILSTRA

Posted By: Lydia Lucas - Volunteer (email)
Date: 6/24/2010 at 19:24:49

Funeral services for Mrs. Ada Lyftogt, 58, who was found dead in a cistern full of water at Sheldon Saturday morning [Dec. 19] and whose death was listed as suicide by officials there, were held Tuesday at the Vander Ploeg funeral home at Sheldon.

Rev. Albert Van Dyke of the First Reformed Church officiated. Services were also held at 2 p.m. at the First Reformed Church in Rock Valley with burial in the Valley View cemetery.

Mrs. Lyftogt left a note on the steering wheel of a neighbor's car, stating that she was jumping into the cistern because of financial trouble. Her husband, Ben, died last year.

Mrs. Lyftogt was born April 14, 1901 at Hull, Iowa. She moved to Sheldon two and one-half years ago from New Jersey.

Survivors include three sons, Ray Bakker of Rock Valley; Gerrit Bakker of Dallas, Texas; and Cyrus Bakker of Rock Rapids; two daughters, Mrs. George Middle of Rock Valley and Mrs. Donald Tiedemann of Hull; the father, Gerrit Tilstra of Inwood; two sisters, Mrs. Wilbur Kroontje of Magnolia, Minnesota, and Mrs. Gerrit Ver Beek of Rock Rapids; six brothers, Walter, Fred and Dick Tilstra, all of Inwood, Harm Tilstra of Harrisburg, South Dakota, William Tilstra of Minneapolis and Peter Tilstra of Oxford, New Jersey; and 11 grandchildren.

Source: Sioux County Index, Dec. 24, 1959.