Laurel (Cole) KIRSTEIN

COLE, KIRSTEIN, PHELPS, HOYD, MERRYFIELD, VANDERLINDEN, COHOON

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/30/2006 at 14:58:41

Laurel Kirstein, 85, of Clarion, passed away on Friday, March 24, 2006, at the USA Healthcare Center in Clarion. Funeral services were held on Tuesday, March 28, at the United Methodist Church in Clarion. Pastor Don Morrison officiated at the 1:00 p.m. service. Burial was in the Evergreen Cemetery, Clarion.

Laurel Cole was born April 4, 1920, in Dundee, Iowa, the daughter of Ernest and Mary (Phelps) Cole. She had an older brother, Laurence and a younger sister, Lorraine. Laurel was raised in the LaPorte City, Iowa, area during the Great Depression. Many memories of those hard times were shared with her family throughout the years. Following graduation from the LaPorte City High School in 1938, Laurel worked for a time as a maid in Waterloo and during a visit with her brother, Laurence in Clarion, she met and later married Robert Kirstein. Bob and Laurel were married on April 19, 1941. To this union five children were born. Bob and Laurel farmed south of Clarion all their married life. She loved to cook, garden, crochet, sew, weave rugs and paint. Laurel was instrumental in getting the four way stop light installed five miles south on R-38. She also was the winner of the contest for naming the roller rink in Clarion-Spinning Wheels. At one time Laurel taught adult reading in her home. They moved into Clarion in 1987. Following Bob's death in 1988, Laurel moved to Southtown and later the USA Healthcare Center where she lived at the time of her death. Laurel was a member of the United Methodist Church and will be remembered by all who knew her as a dedicated patriot.

She is survived by her children, Mildred Hoyd and husband, Dale of Boise, Idaho; Philip Kirstein and wife, Judy of Clarion and Paul Kirstein and wife, Pat of Clarion; a sister, Lorraine Merryfield of Des Moines; and a dear niece, Linda Vanderlinden of Des Moines. Laurel is also survived by ten grandchildren; two step-granddaughters; and eight great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; one daughter, Karole Ann; one son, Randy; one granddaughter, Laurie; one daughter-in-law, Marlene; one brother, Laurence; and a niece, Janet Cohoon.

March 30, 2006
© Wright County Monitor 2006