Madelon "Tootie" Seuntjens 1931 - 2018

SEUNTJENS, HENRY, SEXTON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen -Volunteer (email)
Date: 4/17/2018 at 15:31:54

Sioux City Journal
11 January 2018

Danbury, Iowa

Madelon "Tootie" Seuntjens, 86, of Danbury, passed away Sunday, Jan. 7, 2017, at Maple Heights Nursing Home in Mapleton, Iowa.

Services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Danbury. The Rev. Richard D. Ball will officiate. Burial will be in Danbury Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 7 p.m. today, with a rosary at 4 p.m. and a vigil service at 7 p.m., at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Armstrong-Van Houten Funeral Home in Danbury and Mapleton. Condolences may be sent online www.armstrongfuneral.com.

Madelon D'Ette "Tootie" (Sexton) Seuntjens was born on March 24, 1931, to Leslie and Gretta (Henry) Sexton. Tootie graduated from St. Patrick's Academy in Danbury in 1948. She attended Briar Cliff College for one year and obtained her RN degree from St. Joseph Mercy School of Nursing in Sioux City in 1952.

Tootie married Clair Seuntjens on Feb. 6, 1954. She worked at St. Joseph Hospital, for Dr. Louis Harrington and Morningside Manor Nursing Home in Ida Grove, Iowa. When Clair and Tootie moved to the farm north of Danbury, her priorities changed and she became a housewife. They moved to the farm southeast of Danbury in 1964, which was home for the next 30 years.

Tootie was an instrumental part of a famous group that started out as the Danbury Ding-a-lings and progressed to Nuns-on-the-Run. They started out on the stage at Danbury Corn Days and preformed hundreds of shows and raised nearly $100,000. They donated all of their proceeds to local organizations and worthy causes. Tootie was the original Mother Superior.

Tootie was active in the St. Mary's Rosary Society and enjoyed the local Red Hat Society. She never met a person she didn't like, but liked some better than others. She loved to play bridge and euchre. She organized several out of state bus trips for local women.

Tootie and Clair were fortunate to winter in Palm Desert, Calif. for 35 years. They loved to travel with both family and friends. They often traveled for Clair's Army reunions and visited Washington DC, Boston, Niagara Falls, several trips to Florida and Las Vegas and even enjoyed a cruise. They attended the Indianapolis 500 and the 1982 Rose Bowl game in Pasadena (Washington vs. Iowa). In 1998, she fulfilled her lifelong dream of traveling to Ireland with family and friends.

Tootie's greatest joy was being on the go, whether it was attending her children's or grandchildren's activities, shopping, playing cards, or going on any excursion. Tootie developed the motto, "Life is short. Take the trip. Buy the shoes. Eat the cake."

Family members left to cherish Tootie's memories are three daughters, Liz (Tom) Vermeersch of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Heidi (Ron) Reed of Norwalk, Iowa, Jill (Gary) Sailer of Overland Park, Kan.; three sons, Kurt (Cindy) of Danbury, Carey (Pete) of Dunlap, Iowa, and Nathan (Barney) (Jen) of Denison, Iowa; a son-in-law, Grant Kruse and his wife, Cindy of West Des Moines; 22 grandchildren; 17 great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Stan of Danbury, and Jon of Pasadena, Calif.

Tootie was preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Clair; their daughter, Susan; two infant daughters, Mary Jane and Kathleen; a son, John; her parents, Leslie and Gretta; and brother, Tom "Buzz."