Zona H. (Weld) WHITTEN

WHITTEN, WELD, STURDIVANT, MCCULLEY, ALDRICH, VAUGHN, KOVEL, GROVER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 3/27/2011 at 10:34:45

January 15, 1915 -- March 22, 2011

BELMOND, IA - Zona H. Whitten, 96, formerly of Rowan, died Tuesday, March 22, 2011, in Belmond in the presence of her family. A celebration of her life will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 16, at the United Church of Rowan, Rowan. Pastor Nancy Hofmeister will be officiating.The family will greet friends at the church beginning at 10 a.m. and a lunch will follow the service in the church fellowship hall. Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond, IA.

Mason City Globe Gazette -- Iowa
March 25, 2011

[nee: Zona Weld, widow of Kenneth Whitten]

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Rowan - Zona (Weld) Whitten, age 96, formerly of Rowan, died March 22, 2011, at the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond with her daughter holding her hand. Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 16, at the United Church of Rowan. Pastor Nancy Hofmeister will be officiating. Inurnment will take place in the Graceland Cemetery, Rowan. The family will be present at the church beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday to greet family and friends. A luncheon and time of fellowship will follow the services in the church basement. Those wishing to express their sympathies through a memorial in Zona's name may wish to direct them to the family in care of Kay McCulley, 14431 Wolfram St. N.W., Ramsey, MN 55303, or to their own choice.

Zona was born at home only seven miles away on "Snarl Street," (a name unrelated to her unassuming personality) in Grant Township, Wright County, on Jan. 15, 1915. She grew up on farms in Wright County and Minnesota where she especially loved riding horses. She worked for her room and board in Clarion so that she could attend Clarion High School where she graduated in 1933. After working as a waitress at the Hotel Moore, she and Kenneth Whitten were married on Sept. 1, 1935. They farmed most of their lives around Rowan. In 1943, with their two daughters, the family moved to Vancouver, Wash., where both Kenneth and Zona worked in the Kaiser Shipyards for nine months. They returned to the Whitten family farm where they lived until heir retirement in 1973. Zona was very active as a Girl Scout leader, 4-H leader, and member of the Congregational Church where she taught Sunday school and sang in the church choir for many years. When her daughters went to college she worked at the P & G Grocery and a Dougherty Jewelry Store in Belmond and was named "Sales Person of the Year" in 1969. On retirement in 1974, they moved to Rowan and spent nine enjoyable winters in Apache Junction, Ariz. After Kenneth had a severe stroke, Zona cared for him at their apartment in Rowan for seven years. After his death in 1995, she was still able to enjoy traveling across the country and visited her grandchildren in Louisiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Oregon and played lots of cards, her favorite past time. Zona was determined to overcome numerous health issues and lived independently the last four plus years in the Belmond Community Apartments where many residents remembered her as that friendly clerk in Dougherty's. She had a quick wit and enjoyed a good story.

Her family celebrates her life as a mother of daughters Donna Dawn Sturdivant (Roland) of Metairie, La., Madeline Kay McCulley (Roger) Ramsey, Minn.; "third" daughter and niece Wilma Aldrich of Rowan; and "like a son" Larry Aldrich; grandmother of Tony, Michael (Fannie), and Nick (Rose Marie) Vaughn, Scott McCulley (Cass Kovel) and Tonya McCulley (s.o. Taylor Grover); great-grandmother of 15; and great-great-grandmother of one. As the last survivor of her generation in the Carl and Grace Weld and Hugh and Bertha Whitten families, she became mother and grandmother as well as aunt to the eleven remaining nieces and nephews and their families, a role she relished. Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond.

Mason City Globe Gazette -- Iowa
April 10, 2011