Daubendiek, Jennie Mae (Sloan) 1919 - 2015

DAUBENDIEK, SLOAN, STOVER, HANSEL, WESSELS, SATERN, FISCUS, WIRTZ, HANSEN, POST, LAWMAN, BUTCHER

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 2/20/2015 at 15:01:21

J. Mae Daubendiek, age 96, of Decorah, Iowa, died Saturday, February 14, 2015 at Cedar Valley Hospice Home in Waterloo,Iowa.

Funeral Services will be at 10:00 A.M. Friday, February 20, 2015 at Fjelstul Funeral Home Chapel in Decorah, Iowa with Pastor Jim Idous officiating. Burial will be in West Bend Cemetery, West Bend, Iowa.

Visitation will be from 4-7 PM Thursday at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah and beginning at 9:00 A.M, one hour before the service, on Friday.

Jennie Mae Daubendiek was born February 3, 1919 and was a descendant of a pioneer family in West Bend, Iowa, the youngest of ten children of Harvey A. and Ada M. (Stover) Sloan of West Bend, Iowa. She graduated from the high school there in 1936 and worked as a telephone operator there until her marriage on December 25, 1938 to Robert W. Daubendiek in Blue Earth, Minnesota.

Prior to WWII their occupation made it possible for them to travel and live in seven different states. Robert served in the Signal Corps of the U.S. Army in Europe, winning the Bronze Star Medal.

In June 1946, the couple was given a five-day-old boy to adopt and cherish. He brought joy and blessings during his short life. He died in June of 1962 and is buried in the West Bend Cemetery. Mae’s husband died in 1975 and is buried there also.

A life-long Presbyterian, Mae took pleasure in working for the church wherever they lived. She was a past Noble Grand of the Rebecca Lodge of West Bend, Iowa. She was a 50-year member of the Order of Eastern Star and past Worthy Matron of the Decorah chapter of O.E.S. She was a volunteer Bridge teacher for the Newcomers’ Club in Decorah for many years.

She was a co-owner of the Decorah Nursery with her husband and acted as office manager during that time.

After her retirement, Mae authored nine books. The first was an account of her husband’s work with black walnut trees. She wrote eight family history books for her extended family, some of which recounted the history of her ancestors’ coming to America in 1620 and the emigration of the various branches of the family across the United States and through 350 years of history, leaving a legacy for all the generations to come, all copies of which are owned by her family.

She had been living in Cedar Falls, Iowa since July of 2014 with her great, great niece and name sake, Jennie Mae Hansel.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Robert, on October 30, 1975; her son, Andy, on June 29, 1962; her brother, Ralph Sloan; and seven sisters: Bess Wessels, Vivian Satern, Neva Fiscus, Dollie Wirtz, Golda Hansen, Mabel Post and Grace Lawman.

Mae is survived by one sister, Dorothy Butcher of Des Moines, IA; and many nieces and nephews and their many offspring, scattered widely.

Memorials may be given to the Cedar Valley Hospice, 2101 Kimball Avenue, Waterloo, IA 50702.

Source: Fjelstul Funeral Home database

Winneshiek Obituaries maintained by Jeff Getchell.
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