Elna (Harbison) STEARNS

STEARNS, HARBISON, MATSON, PETTY, PRUYN, MOLANDER, MALEY, WILSON, RYAN, MCNUTT

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/29/2006 at 01:56:16

GARNER – Elna H. Stearns, 86, of Garner, died Monday (Aug. 25, 2003) at Mercy Medical Center- North Iowa in Mason City. Her funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the United Methodist Church in Garner with the Rev. David Wagner officiating. Burial will be at Rose Hill Cemetery in Eagle Grove. Visitation will be held one hour prior to services Thursday at the church. Cataldo Funeral Home in Garner is in charge of arrangements. Memorials may be directed to the American Heart Association or the University of Iowa Foundation – Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, IA 52244.

Elna H. Stearns, the daughter of William and Christy (Ryan) Harbison, was born Nov. 5, 1916, at Whittemore. She grew up in Eagle Grove where she graduated from high school. On Jan. 21, 1948, she was married to Walter Stearns at her parent’s home in Garner. Elna was employed by the Bell Telephone Company in Iowa for 45 years retiring in 1981. Following retirement, she moved to Garner to be near her family. In 1990, she moved to Prairie View Apartments in Garner. She enjoyed her family, her job and watching sports on TV. She was a member of the United Methodist Church in Garner, Rebekah Circle and was a former member of Homemakers Club and Eastern Star.

She is survived by four sisters and a brother, Enola Matson of Chicago, Ill., Lorene Petty and husband, Jack, of Hutchinson, Kan., Reuel Pruyn and wife, Virginia, of Hemet, Calif., Clare Molander and husband, Royal, of Garner and Helene Maley and husband, Dale, of Garner; two brothers-in-law, LeRoy Stearns and wife, Florence, of Abilene, Texas and Rollo Stearns and wife, Cora, of Eagle Grove; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Walter Stearns, in 1962; her parents; a brother, Willard Harbison; and two sisters, Jesse Wilson and Billie McNutt. Cataldo Funeral Home, (641) 923-2841.

Mason City Globe Gazette
August 27, 2003