DeVries, Opal Leibrand (1920-2008)

DEVRIES, LEIBRAND, BELL, NESSA, SWANSON, BAUMANN, JOHANSON, SORENSON, JACOBS

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 7/5/2012 at 18:40:36

Opal Leibrand DeVries
(February 29, 1920 - June 7, 2008)

Opal B. Leibrand DeVries, age 88, of Buffalo Center, Iowa, died on Saturday at Mercy Medical Center of North Iowa in Mason City.

Opal Beatrice (Bell) (Leibrand) DeVries was the second child of Obert and Edith (Nessa) Bell. She was born on a farm four miles east of Thompson on February 29, 1920, (Leap Year). Opal was baptized in infancy by Rev C. S. Halverson and confirmed at Bethany Lutheran Church in Thompson, Iowa.

Opal received her early elementary school education in the rural Linden #2 School in Winnebago County. She graduated from Thompson High School in 1937 and then took a year of Normal Training at the Lake Mills High School. She taught school for five years in the rural schools in Norway, Newton, and Winnebago Townships. Her starting salary was $50.00 per month. From 1942 to 1945, Opal worked as a stenographer in Denver, Colorado. She also worked for an insurance company in Des Moines and Algona.

On June 30, 1945, Opal married Melvin Leibrand at the Methodist Church in Buffalo Center. Together they operated a TV and Appliance store in Buffalo Center, building a new store in 1971. They loved to travel and took trips to Paris, Rome, Tokyo, Mexico City, Jerusalem, Cairo, Hawaii, Jamaica, and Madrid. They were blessed with six children, seventeen grandchildren, and twenty-four great grandchildren. Mel died in 1977.

Opal married Charlie DeVries on October 21, 1989. They especially enjoyed spending their winters in Mission, Texas. They toured through Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland. Opal was a member of the Ruth Circle and VFW Auxiliary.

On June 7, 2008, surrounded by her children, Opal went to be with her Lord and Savior. Left to cherish her memory are her children: Rosalind, and her husband, Dennis Swanson, Daryl Leibrand, and Cheryl, and her husband, August Baumann, all of Buffalo Center, Scott Leibrand, and his wife, Sue, of Des Moines, Valerie, and her husband, Steve Johanson, of Forest City, and Lori Leerar, of Kasson, Minnesota; her grandchildren and great grandchildren; three step children, step grandchildren, and step great grandchildren; a sister, Marjorie Sorenson, and a sister-in-law, Almira Bell; as well as many nieces and nephews.

Opal was preceded in death by her husbands Mel Leibrand and Charlie DeVries; her parents; her sister, Neva Swenson; her brother, Donald Bell, and grandson, Tyler Jacobs.

Opal’s funeral service was held at 1:30 PM on Wednesday June 11, 2008, at the United Methodist Church in Buffalo Center with Pastor Shannon Pascual officiating. Burial was at Graceland Cemetery.

Visitation was from 5:00 to 8:00 PM on Tuesday, June 10, 2008, at the Winter Funeral Home in Buffalo Center and one hour before the ceremony at the church.

Copyright © 2008, Winter Funeral Home and Cremation Service

Winnebago Obituaries maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
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