Charlene Deyong

Rock Rapids, IA        Charlene DeYong age 79 of Rock Rapids, IA died Tuesday June 6, 2017 at Rock Rapids Health Center.        Funeral services will be 2:30 p.m. Saturday June 10, 2017 at Peace Lutheran Church in Rock Rapids, IA with Rev. Mark Hansen, officiating. Burial will follow in the Riverview Cemetery at Rock Rapids, IA.        Visitation will be Friday, June 9th from 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. with the family present from 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. at the Jurrens Funeral Home of Rock Rapids.         Charlene Kaye (Coy) DeYong was born December 17, 1937 in Arlington, South Dakota, the daughter of Delbert and Evelyn (Haug) Coy. During her childhood, she lived and attended school in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Erwin, South Dakota. She graduated from Erwin High School in 1955 and attended Nettleton Business College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After graduating from college, she worked in the Rock Rapids Creamery as a bookkeeper as well as helping her parents who owned and operated the Home Plate Café in Rock Rapids.      She was united in marriage to Donald DeYong on November 29, 1959 at Peace Lutheran Church in Rock Rapids. In 1961, Charlene moved to Ft. Lee, Virginia, where Donald was stationed with the U.S. Army. In December, 1962 the family returned to Rock Rapids. In 1966, she started working at Rock Rapids Machine and Welding (which was then known as Landman’s Machine Shop) where she remained employed for 46 years until her retirement in 2012.      Char was an active member of Peace Lutheran Church in Rock Rapids for decades and was an active volunteer at church activities. First and foremost, Char enjoyed spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren. She also treasured the lasting friendships she built at her job, where she felt privileged to interact with so many residents of Rock Rapids and the surrounding area. She was an avid reader and liked gardening and sewing in her spare time.      She is survived by three children, Jeffrey DeYong of Rock Rapids, Iowa, Gregory (wife, Penny) DeYong of Cape Girardeau, Missouri and Jana DeYong of Rock Rapids, Iowa; four grandchildren, Allan, Christian, Andrea and Timothy DeYong; one brother, Conley Coy (wife, Virginia) of Fremont, Nebraska; one sister, Pamela Coy of Rock Rapids, Iowa; one sister-in-law Faith DeYoung of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and one brother-in-law, Darrel Steenblock of Fremont, Nebraska; and many nieces, nephews and other extended family.      She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald DeYong; her parents, Delbert and Evelyn Coy; an infant daughter, Lisa DeYong; two sisters, Cheryl Faber and Sheila Steenblock; three sisters-in-law, Anna Jacobsen, Jeanette Fisher and Dixie De Young; and four brothers-in-law, Lyle Jacobsen, Keith Fisher, Arend DeYoung, and Allen Faber.