Arleen Frances Kellen 1922-2011

KELLEN KOKENGE

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 6/23/2011 at 16:09:12

Sioux City Journal
5 April 2011

DANBURY, Iowa -- Arleen F. Kellen, 88 of Danbury, formerly of Omaha, passed away Saturday, April 2, 2011, at Willow Dale Wellness Village in Battle Creek, Iowa.

Abiding by her wishes and arrangements, her body has been donated to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, to aid in medical teaching and research. Memorial services will be held at a later date at St. John's Church on the Creighton University Campus. Graveside services will be in Resurrection Cemetery, Omaha. Armstrong Funeral Home of Danbury and Mapleton, Iowa has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Arleen Frances Kellen was born June 2, 1922, on a farmstead near Alton, Iowa, to Henry and Dorothy (Kokenge) Kellen. She was baptized at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Alton. She grew up in the Granville and Alton area and graduated from Alton High School in 1939.

Upon graduation, she moved to Sioux City and began working for McKesson and Robbins. On Dec. 1, 1945, she began employment as a secretary with the Illinois Central Railroad in Sioux City, transferring in 1952 to the Omaha office, where she continued working until her retirement in 1987. She remained in Omaha until October 2004, when she moved to Danbury to be closer to family. In March 2010, she entered Willow Dale Wellness Village in Battle Creek.

Arleen was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Danbury. She enjoyed playing cards, working crossword puzzles and reading.

She is survived by her brother, Carl and his wife Joan Kellen of Sioux City; their children, Keith (Laura), David (Linda), Dan (Roxanne) and Jim (Diane) Kellen, all of Sioux City, and Lori (Steve) Wendt of Sioux Falls, S.D.; her sister's daughters, Lynn (Rick) Hamers of Ames, Iowa, Lois Gahan-Gootz of Tucson, Ariz., and Ellen (John) Boyle of Danbury; and several grandnieces and grandnephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; and a sister and brother-in-law, Bernice and Paul Gahan.