Leona (Barkema) KUHLERS

KUHLERS, BARKEMA, KEATON, EDEN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 7/6/2007 at 09:52:50

Mason City Globe Gazette
02/06/1997

BUHL, Idaho -- Leona (Barkema) Kuhlers, 85, of Buhl, formerly of the Meservey and Alexander, Iowa, areas, beloved mother and grandmother, went to be with her Lord on Monday (Feb. 3, 1997) at the Magic Valley Regional Medical Center in Twin Falls. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at the First Reformed Church in Alexander, Iowa, with the Rev. Gerald Norman officiating. Burial will be in the Alexander Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Tenold Funeral Home, Belmond, Iowa, and at the church one hour prior to services.

She is survived by her daughter, Norma Jean Keaton and her husband, David, of Buhl; grandchildren, Robert Lynn, Sharon, Phillip and Pamela, all of Buhl; brothers, Carl Barkema of Mesa, Ariz., and Foster Barkema of Alexander, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her husband, Albert; sisters, Alice and Florence; and brother, George.

She was born on a farm near Alexander, Iowa, on Jan. 7, 1912, the fifth child of Hans and Flora (Eden) Barkema. She graduated from Alexander High School in 1929 and worked on the family farm until she married Albert A. Kuhlers on Oct. 29, 1949. They farmed near Meservey, Iowa, until 1962 when they moved to Fort Collins, Colo., where they built and operated the Mountain View Mobile Home Park. The two were partners in everything they did until Albert's death in 1991. In 1992 Leona moved to Buhl to be near her daughter and grandchildren. She especially loved being with her grandchildren and enjoyed working in her flower gardens. She was a joy to be around and made the lives of those around her better.