Lynne Lavonne (Arends) ALDRICH

ARENDS, ALDRICH, STATE, ZANGEL, MCNEAL

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/23/2016 at 17:50:03

March 29, 1942 ------ October 20, 2016

BELMOND — Lynne Lavonne (Arends) Aldrich, 74, died from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, at her home in rural Belmond. A funeral service will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at the United Church of Rowan, 811 Pesch St., Rowan, with Pastor Nancy Hofmeister officiating. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery, Rowan. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016, at Andrews Funeral Home, 516 First St. S.E., Belmond. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts be directed to the Rowan Library, or the charity of your choice. All undesignated memorials will be directed to Rowan improvement projects.

If you are reading this now, then I have stepped off the “train of life” onto the heavenly platform. I decided to write my own obituary to say what I wanted to say.

I was born Lynne Lavonne Arends on March 29, 1942, in a big white house in Clarion, Iowa. It used to be a hospital. My parents were John Henry Arends (but everyone called him Hank), and Marian Irene (State) Arends.

I started kindergarten in Alexander (in January). I was there for only two months and then we moved in March, so I was still in kindergarten at a rural country school right across the road from Brooks’ Pony Farm. That fall I was still in kindergarten as I’d only had four months of schooling, so when we moved again the next March I finished out my kindergarten experience in Thornton, Iowa. I also went on to first grade there.

However, we moved again the next March and I finished first grade in Rowan. There I was to stay until I graduated from the Rowan Consolidated High School in 1960. I started college at Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls. During my sophomore year, it became State College of Iowa. The summer after my freshman year, my sister, Gloria, and I drove out to Laramie, Wyoming, and we both took 12 hours of credit in ten weeks.

I got married to my high school sweetheart, R. E. Lee Aldrich, III, better known as “Butch” to Rowan locals, on Aug. 12, 1962. I got my first teaching job in Story City, Iowa in the fall of 1962. I had 22 delightful second graders, but after that first year was over I was off to Fort Lee, Virginia, where Lt. Aldrich was taking classes. We then flew to Augsburg, Germany, for a three-year stint in the U.S. Army in 1963.

Our oldest son, Forrest Scott, was born at the U. S. Army hospital in Augsburg at the end of 1964. By the time our tour was over, Butch had orders for Vietnam. He left for Vietnam close to Christmas in 1966, and I went back to college to finish up getting my B.A. in Elementary Education.

After Butch returned from Vietnam we decided to try farming, and here we have been ever since! We started our Christmas Tree farm in 1969. Two more sons were born, Todd Rowen and Lance John. We built a new house in 1977 and moved there when Lance was five years old.

I helped on the farm until I decided to go back to teaching, so in the fall of 1985 I taught kindergarten in Belmond, Iowa. After two years I switched to second grade and never changed. I am hoping that some of my former students are here today to say goodbye. They were the light of my life. I loved being their teacher!

I retired in 2000, but substitute taught for seven more years. I had a party for my “last class” when they graduated in 2010. We opened our “time capsules” we had made when they were in second grade. Even thought I was retired, I did a long-term sub job for 14 delightful third graders in Kanawha. They were very special to me.

My husband and I started traveling when we were in Germany and never stopped. We have been to all 50 states but one (Alabama), all 10 Canadian provinces, and 29 different countries. My favorites were Austria and Germany.

A big part of my life in later years was our adventure of living in Mesa, Arizona, at the Good Life Resort Park during the cold Iowa winters. What fun we had, and what great friends were there sharing all that fun! We loved Arizona, the desert hikes, the many activities, and sharing many social events with good friends.

I leave behind my loving, caring husband Lee (“Butch”). We had been married 54 years. Also my three sons, Forrest (Kathy) of Urbandale, Iowa; Todd (Lisa) of Lakeville, Minnesota; and Lance (Cheri) of Maxwell, Iowa; my cherished, fantastic grandchildren: Kaitlyn, Caroline, and Marianne Aldrich of Urbandale, Iowa, and Ryan, Emily, Joshua, and Megan Aldrich of Lakeville, Minnesota; my two sisters, Gloria (Bob) Zangel of Las Vegas, Nevada and Alison (Sherman) McNeal of Cedar Falls, Iowa; brother Dale (Trese) Arends of rural Belmond, Iowa; and sister-in-law Judy Arends of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

How lucky I have been to have such wonderful siblings. I was also blessed to have so many dear nieces and nephews, and great, loving, and caring friends.

I was preceded in death by my parents, Hank and Marian Arends; father and mother-in-law, R. E. Lee, Jr. and Edna Aldrich; my brother, John Arends; niece, Gretchen Arends; and my beautiful infant daughter, Lorelei Ann Aldrich. I hope we are together again.

All of you reading this are still on the train, so enjoy the ride, and look out the window as often as possible. I’ll greet you someday on the heavenly platform. Love to you all. I will miss you deeply.

October 23, 2016
Mason City Globe Gazette ---- Mason City, IA