Rosella Smidt Christianson Rhoads (1914-2007)
RHOADS, SMIDT, HOLLANDER, CHRISTIANSON, LANGELAND, DILLON, FAUST, SCHONHORST
Posted By: Ames Tribune
Date: 10/3/2007 at 18:57:54
AMES TRIBUNE, Ames, Story County, Iowa, Wednesday, October 3, 2007.
May 21, 1914-Oct. 2, 2007
Rosella Smidt Christianson Rhoads, 93, of Madrid and formerly of Slater and Ames, died Tuesday, Oct. 2, at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames of complications of stroke and pneumonia.
Due to a building project at her home church of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Slater, funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 5, at United Methodist Church of Slater. Pastor Carla Were, of Madrid Home, will officiate. Burial will be in Slater Municipal Cemetery following the service, with a fellowship meal to be served at Bethlehem Lutheran Church following the burial.
Rosella Christianson Rhoads was born May 21, 1914, the youngest of four children, daughter of Sime and Anna (Hollander) Smidt. Her family lived in Boyden and Des Moines.
She graduated from Roosevelt High School in Des Moines in 1931. She attended Simpson College and received bachelor's and master's degrees from Drake University, graduating Magna Cum Laude. After she received a county certificate to teach from Simpson College, she taught at four rural schools and then obtained her elementary teacher's certificate from Drake University. She continued her teaching career at Waterloo and Sheldahl.
She married Jonas Christianson July 7, 1944. While he served in the U.S. Army at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., she taught school there. After he was honorably discharged, they moved to Slater and opened Christianson Grocery. She was a full-time homemaker and mother.
She began teaching again at Slater Elementary in 1955 and continued teaching at Ballard Elementary schools until 1977.
Upon retirement, she and Jonas enjoyed traveling and wintering in Florida. After he died in 1981, she continued to travel to Fort Myers, Fla., every winter. There she met Herbert Rhoads, and they married Sept. 15, 1995. He died Jan. 25, 2001.
She was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Slater and the Slater American Legion Auxiliary. Her interests included reading, studying the Bible, listening to music, studying nature, "shelling," cooking for Kiwanis, traveling and enjoying her family.
She is survived by one daughter, Jeanne (John) Langeland, of Ames; one son, Bob (Linda) Christianson, of Urbandale; four grandchildren, Grethe Langeland (Tom) Dillon, of Edina, Minn., Erik (Holly) Langeland, of Chicago, Jeff Christianson, of Urbandale, and Phil Christianson, of New York, N.Y.; four great-grandchildren, Samantha Martin Dillon, Walker Martin Dillon, Sonja and Isabel Dillon, of Edina, Minn.; one stepson, Ted (Barbara) Rhoads, of Humble, Texas; two sisters-in-law, Hilda Smidt, of Urbandale, and Sylvia Faust, of Boone; many nieces and nephews; and many great-nieces and great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husbands, Jonas Christianson and Herbert Rhoads; all her siblings; and daughter-in-law, Carol Schonhorst Christianson.
Family and friends are invited to attend visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, at Soderstrum-Riis Funeral Home in Slater.
Memorials may be given to Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Slater or Madrid Home in Madrid.
http://www.amestrib.com
Story Obituaries maintained by Mark Christian.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen