Inez J. (Koenen) KETCHUM

KETCHUM, KOENEN, OLSON, OSLAND, VANDEN OEVER, FRY

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 1/31/2013 at 13:33:59

June 15, 1932 ---- January 27, 2013

BELMOND — Inez J. Ketchum, 80, of Belmond, most recently a resident of the Rehabilitation Center of Belmond, died Sunday, Jan. 27 2013, at the Rehabilitation Center in Belmond. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., today, Wednesday, Jan. 30, at the United Church of Rowan, 811 Pesch St., Rowan. Pastor Nancy Hofmeister will be officiating. Burial will be in the Graceland Cemetery near Rowan. Visitation was held Tuesday, Jan. 29, from 4:30-7:30 p.m., at the Belmond United Methodist Church, 1031 First Street S.E., and continues one hour prior to the funeral at the church in Rowan today. Those wishing to express their sympathies through a memorial in Inez’s name may wish to consider the United Church of Rowan, Rowan Lions Club, Belmond-Klemme Scholarship Foundations I or II.

Inez Koenen, was born June 15, 1932, at her parents’ home in George. She was the second of nine children. The family moved to a home near Aplington, in December of 1940, when Inez was in second grade. She attended school in Aplington graduating with the class of 1950. Her high school years were filled with music and drama in which she won several awards. Inez continued her education at Central College, Pella, and obtained an early childhood teaching degree. Teaching led her to school in Rowan, and to Bob Ketchum. They married on July 30,1954, at the Bethel Reformed Church, Aplington, and started their family the following year. The union was blessed with three children; Julie, Kevin, and Jody.

Inez took some years off from teaching to raise their three children and provide them with a loving and nurturing home. She later returned to her passion for teaching young people in 1962 at the Belmond Community Schools, where she taught for 30 years. Her assignments included first grade, second grade and Title 1 teacher. Inez and her husband, Bob, were committed and involved community members in Rowan. Inez devoted much of her time to the Rowan community Church, as a singer, Sunday School teacher and superintendent, Women’s Group member, and Bible Study participant. She and Bob also served for 13 years on the Unlimited Opportunities Board in Clarion. Inez had belonged to the “Come Join Us” Club and various other organizations over her life. The remainder of her free time was involved in her children’s and then grandchildren’s lives. She loved to travel with Bob and her family on various vacations and enjoyed family fishing excursions to Minnesota. Playing cards, especially, 500, Jokereno, Bridge, and Solitaire, was one her favorite past times. She also received great joy in pursuing her many hobbies, including traveling, baking wedding cakes, sewing, and entertaining family and friends. She loved to bird watch and could identify a bird by it’s song without even seeing it. She was an avid reader, had a keen interest in geology and loved music. Throughout her life she was a green thumb always raising a large flower and vegetable garden while on the farm.

After retiring, Inez and Bob became “Snow Birds.” They spent many winters at their residence in Harlingen, Texas, where they enjoyed numerous activities and countless friendships. In earlier years of their family, Inez, Bob, and the kids enjoyed the friendships and times they spent hosting foreign exchange students. Those who had the honor of crossing in Inez’s life journey will remember her as a lady who was strong willed, believed in family values, promoted a strong education, boundless in her faith life, and was a good sport when it came to teasing by her husband and other family members. She loved others and treated both her family and strangers as if she had known them forever.

Her memory will live on in the hearts and minds of her daughters, Julie Ketchum, Belmond, Jody (Steve) Ketchum, Aurora, Colo.; son, Kevin (Marcia) Ketchum, Belmond; grandchildren, Nikki (Matt) Olson and their daughter, Lilly Olson, and Mark Ketchum. Her siblings, Vera Osland, Wayne (Judy) Koenen, Justin (Elaine) Koenen, Rita (Dick) Vanden Oever, Alta (Don) Fry, and Dennis Koenen, also many nieces and nephews. Inez was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Bob on June 23, 2010, and infant brother, David Koenen, and her brother, Paul Koenen. Andrews Funeral Home, Belmond, Iowa.

January 30, 2013
Mason City Globe Gazette - Iowa