Vera Arends

Ellsworth, IA Vera Arends, age 87 of Ellsworth, MN died Thursday, January 28, 2010 at Sanford Hospital of Luverne. Funeral service will be 10:30 AM, Monday, Feb. 1st at First Baptist Church, rural George, IA, with Rev. Steve May officiating. Burial will follow at the church cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday, Jan. 31st from 2:00 to 8:00 PM, with the family present from 6:30 to 8:00 PM at Jurrens Funeral Home of George. Vera Dena Arends was born March 26, 1922 in George, IA to Claus and Severdena (Stomberg) Martens. She was raised in the George area and graduated in 1939 from George Public School. She continued her education at the Teachers College in Cedar Falls, IA. She then returned to the George area and taught at the Bill Dammann School four miles south of Little Rock. On June 27, 1942 she married John Arends Jr. at Worthington, MN. The couple made their home on a farm southeast of Adrian, MN from 1942 " 1979 and then purchased a home in Ellsworth, MN and lived there from 1980 " 2004. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in George. Vera and John remained actively involved in farming until the early 1990s. She enjoyed gardening, scrapbooking, puzzles, genealogy, taking pictures, and playing scrabble. She also enjoyed playing the piano and organ. Veras husband John Jr. died suddenly on September, 21, 2004. A week after her husbands death, Vera entered Park View Nursing Home in Ellsworth, MN. She remained living there until her death last Thursday evening at the age of eighty-seven. She will be remembered as a loving mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who always displayed her contentment with life. Vera is survived by five children, Jack Arends and his wife, Carolyn of Elkhorn, NE; Jean Allison and her husband, Clint of Van Buren, AR; Lee Arends and his wife, Kathleen of Omaha, NE; Keith Arends and his wife, Terrilyn of Adrian, MN; and Lloyd Arends and his wife, Linda of Colton, SD; along with twelve grandchildren; and fifteen great-grandchildren; three brothers-in-law, Sweer (Florence) Arends of Ellsworth, MN, Henry (Elizabeth) Arends of Little Rock, IA, and Raymond Arends of Little Rock, IA; four sisters-in-law, Ann Kleinwolterink of Sheldon, IA, Mary (Herman) Kramer of Ellsworth, MN, Hikelena (Sylvester) Harms of George, IA and Arlene Arends of Little Rock, IA. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband John Arends Jr.; sister, Martha Martens; two half-brothers, Ben and Fred Schoneman.