Catharine "Cay" Merryman

was one of the original county coordinators for The IAGenWeb Project. She coordinated Mills county for several years, and had also once been an assistant coordinator for Madison county. She transcribed and contributed data to many of the county projects and most of the Special Projects in IAGenWeb. She retired in 2004 because of poor health. She loved IAGenWeb and helping others do research.

Obituary

Catherine (Cay) Genson was born in Lenox, Taylor, Iowa, 15 April 1925, to John E. and Edna Brading Genson and died 2 November 2008 in New Hope, Hennepin, Minnesota. At the age of two she moved with her parents to Truro, Madison, Iowa where she lived for the next sixteen years, graduating from Truro High School in 1942. She married Jack Wayne Merryman, son of Henry S. and Phyllis Sheets Merryman on 12 June 1943 in Rockport MO.

While Jack was serving overseas in the U.S. Army in France and Germany during WW II, Cay lived in Columbia SC, San Diego CA and Bellingham WA. When Jack returned home they made their home in Oskaloosa and Fairfield IA while Jack obtained a college degree. Jack worked for the Chevrolet Division of General Motors and during the next thirty-two years they lived in Clear Lake and Ft. Dodge IA, Watertown SD, Moorhead and Minneapolis MN, Lombard IL, and Fargo ND where Jack retired in 1981. They moved to St. George UT in 1986. Cay moved back to MN early in 2008.

Cay, Jack, and Kristin were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) on October 19, 1973 and were sealed in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple on 5 November 1974. Cay actively served her church and its members as a Ward and Stake Relief Society President in Fargo, North Dakota. She served for nine years as an ordinance worker in the St George LDS Temple, for four years in the Extraction Program, with her husband as Gospel Doctrine teachers, and for thirty four years as a Visiting Teacher.

Cay had a life long love for genealogy and spent many years on the staff of various LDS Family History Centers (FHC). She served as the Director of the FHC in Fargo for seven years. For over 65 years she worked tirelessly to assist neighbors, friends and strangers with their own family histories. Cay became a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 2007. Her headstone will be marked with the DAR symbol.

She is survived by three children, Jan Seal Smith (James Parson) of Coon Rapids, MN, Mark Merryman (Carol deceased)of Minneapolis and Kristin (James) Carle of, Germany; six grandchildren, Jennifer Seal of Chicago, Robert (Kate) Seal of Lafayette CO, Meryl Beth (Thomas) Cooper of Yakima WA, Jamie and McKenzie Carle of Germany, Jack Merryman of Minneapolis and a brother-in-law, Bill (Helen) Lorenzen of Truro IA. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jack, parents and an infant daughter, Susan Ann.

In lieu of flowers, please send memorials to the LDS Family History Center, 82 N Dixie Drive, St George, UT 84770, or The LDS Humanitarian Aid Fund online at www.lds.org/ldsfoundation or LDS Philanthropies, P.O. Box 27188, Provo, UT 84602-7188.

Services will be at the Kale Funeral Home in Truro, Iowa on Tuesday, 11 November, 2008 at 10:30 am. Burial will be at 1:30 pm in the Booneville Iowa Cemetery next to her husband, Jack.

source: Provided by Cay's daughter, to be published November 7, 2008 in St. George, UT; Fargo, ND; Winterset, IA; and Minneapolis, MN.

Marilyn "Mari" Modlin

contributed in several volunteer positions within The IAGenWeb Project. She was a past coordinator for Delaware County, and was for six years coordinator for Hardin County. She was also past coordinator of the Iowa Civil War Project, and served for a year as an IAGenWeb Welcome Hostess.

Obituary

Marilyn J. Modlin, 62, of Eldora, died from natural causes on Thursday, September 11, 2008 at the Bright Kavanah House in Des Moines while under the care of Hospice of Central Iowa. Funeral services will be at 2:00 pm on Monday, September 15, 2008 at Creps-Abels Funeral Home in Eldora with Jeff Thayer officiating. Burial will follow in the Eldora City Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 pm to 8 pm on Sunday at Creps-Abels Funeral Home.

Marilyn was born December 11, 1945 in Madison, Wisconsin, daughter of Harold and Isabel (Jones) King. She was raised in Madison and graduated from East High School in 1963, then attended Madison area Tech School for a year. On March 1, 1969 Marilyn was united in marriage to Dennis Modlin in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. While in Wisconsin she worked as a receptionist at American Family Insurance then for Dane County Social Services. She moved to Eldora on January 1, 1976 and worked as a nurses aid at the Eldora Manor and then at the Eldora Hospital in housekeeping. She was a member of the Non-Denominational Church and enjoyed knitting and computers developing web-pages, searching genealogy, and monitoring a chat-room for the blind.

Marilyn is survived by her husband, Dennis; her father, Harold of Lodi, Wisconsin; son, Scott (Andrea) Modlin of West Salem, Wisconsin; daughter, Michelle Modlin of Des Moines; sisters, Ellen Olsen of Lodi, Wisconsin and Eileen (Mark) Olson of Madison, Wisconsin; and by grandchildren, Joel, Ben, Evan and Chris. She was preceded in death by her mother, Isabel and brother, Bobby.

source: Abels Funeral Homes

David Michael Edsall

was assistant coordinator of the Cherokee County IAGenWeb County Project.

Dave, with his wife Lynette, hosted a very well-received IAGenWeb Coordinator Conference at Iowa State University at Ames, Iowa in June, 2007. Dave was passionate about technology and well-respected.

Obituary

David Michael Edsall, 45, of Ames, died Sunday, April 6, at Mary Greeley Medical Center. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 10 at Stevens Memorial Chapel in Ames. He was a donor to the Iowa Lions Eye Bank. Cremation will follow the service.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, at Stevens Memorial Chapel in Ames.

David Edsall was born April 19, 1962, in Alton, Ill., to Delbert and Norma (Juergensen) Edsall. As a child, he moved with his family to College Park, Md. He graduated from Highpoint, Md. High School in 1980. He received a bachelor's degree from the University of Maryland in College Park and a master's degree in physics from Purdue University in Lafayette, Ind. He was near completion of a doctorate degree in high energy physics from Iowa State University. He was employed at ISU in information technology services.

He married Lynette Sleezer Jan. 27, 1995, in Ames.

He was a member of Sigma Xi and Phi Alpha Theta (history honor society). He loved blues music and played the harmonica. He enjoyed watching Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis movies and always could be counted on for a good joke. He followed politics closely, loved trains of all sizes and enjoyed the time he spent abroad traveling and living in Europe.

He is survived by his wife, Lynette Edsall, of Ames; his mother, Norma Arntz, of Dayton, Ohio; five sisters, Nancee, Katie, Julie, Sarah and Mary, and five brothers, Roger, Regan, Dana, John and Joe, and many nieces and nephews, all residing on the East Coast; his Sheltie dog, Cody; and many Ames friends.

He was preceded in death by his father; his stepfather, Arthur (Bud) Arntz; and his special uncle, Arthur Juergensen.

source: Ames Tribune, Ames, Story County, Iowa, April 8, 2008

Fred Dethlefsen

was coordinator of the Crawford County IAGenWeb County Project. Under Fred's oversight and energetic leadership the the site has grown to over 700 pages at the present time.

Fred was passionate about the integrity of the Crawford County web site and extremely proud of the volunteers that provided him with data and assistance.

Obituary

Fred Dethlefsen, coordinator of Crawford County, passed away Saturday
morning, March 18, 2006 in Chandler, Arizona. Fred suffered from muscular
dystrophy and in January contracted pneumonia. He was not able to recover
from the effects of that infection.

Fred was born and raised in Crawford County, Iowa, and attended high school
in Manning, Iowa, which is next door in Carroll County, Iowa.

Fred worked 35 years for the Caterpillar Tractor Company in Joliet,
Illinois. He also served as Fire Chief for Joliet for a period of time. He
retired to Mesa, Arizona, where he subsequently became involved with the
GenWeb organization. He was not only county coordinator for the Crawford
County, Iowa web site, but also assisted with the sites for several counties
in Nebraska.

He will be sorely missed by his many friends and colleagues in IAGenWeb.

source: Bob Kuehl, Greta Thompson & ohdefuneralhome.com

Madonna Maree Harms

was co-coordinator of the original Iowa Orphan Train Riders, IAGenWeb Special Project . She was the long-time archivist for Iowa Orphan Train Records and was known to many as the "Orphan Train Lady". Madonna organized rider reunions and volunteered hundreds of hours of help to researchers.

Obituary

Madonna Harms, Pocahontas, IA - 05/15/05

Pocahontas, IA - Madonna Maree Harms passed away Friday, May 13, 2005, in the Hospice Room at the Pocahontas Community Hospital, Pocahontas, Iowa. She was born October 17, 1929, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Perry J. Hoffey & Agnes L. Cosgrove. She attended school at Ottumwa Heights Academy in Ottumwa, Iowa, graduating in 1947. She went on to nurses' training at Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from 1947 to 1949.
Madonna married Howard B. Mullinix January 17, 1949, at Luverne, Minnesota, and lived in Canton, South Dakota.

She married William H. Harms November 16, 1963, at South Sioux City, Nebraska. They made their home in Sioux Falls, later moving to Lakewood, California. Madonna achieved her Master's Degree in nursing while living in California. In October of 1990, they moved to Rolfe, Iowa, and had lived there since that time.

Her hobby was genealogy, and she took great joy and pride in tracing her family tree as well as that of her husband, Bill.

Madonna was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter, Marilee K. Mullinix; a daughter, Gayle Mullinix; and a great-grandson, Joseph L. Collins.

Survivors include her husband, Bill; her children, Marsha and Tom Ingebretson of Columbia Heights, Minnesota, Michael Mullinix of Humboldt, Iowa, Ronald Mullinix of Sioux Falls, Robin Mullinix of Pocahontas, Iowa, and Douglas E. Harms of Sioux Falls; 16 grandchildren; and 9
great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be Tuesday, May 17th, at Powers Funeral Home, 500 Garfield St., Rolfe, IA, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. A Prayer service will begin at 7:00. A second service will be held at Miller Funeral Home, 507 S. Main St., Sioux Falls, at 1:00 p.m. on Friday, May 20th. Burial will follow at Trent Cemetery, Trent, South Dakota.

source: Sioux Falls Argus Leader