Obituaries : Elfrieda Dunker

Elfrieda Dunker

Elfrieda Dunker, 95, died Wednesday, June 19, 2013, at the Hiawatha Care Center in Hiawatha following an extended illness. Funeral Services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 23, at St. John Lutheran Church in Keystone with the Rev. B. Andrew Wright officiating. Interment will be held at the Keystone Cemetery. Friends may call at Phillips Funeral Home in Keystone from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday.

A memorial fund has been established for St. John Lutheran Church in Keystone.

Elfrieda was born March 6, 1918, at Arpsdorf, Germany, to Oscar and Anna (Jaeger) Buhr. At age six, she was blessed to come to Iowa. On Dec. 8, 1933, she was united in marriage to Waldo Dunker. The couple farmed in the Keystone area. Waldo preceded her in death in 1982.

Elfieda made drapes and did mending for people. She enjoyed quilting. She always put her family first and adored her grand, great and great great-grandchildren.

She is survived by her daughter, Shirley Fennern of Cedar Rapids; her grandchildren, Todd (Elaina) Dunker of Keystone, Kim (Rich) Etscheidt of Newhall, Brooke Anderson of Gladstone, Mo., Brian Fennern and significant other Linda of Bartosville, Okla., and Lynne Simpson of Powder Springs, Ga.; her great-grandchildren, Chris, Angie, Herbie, Tammy, Kelley, Spencer, Russell, Chelsea, Brandon, Shaina and Trey; and her great-great-grandchildren, Keaton, Avery, Liam, Elias, Aaron, Calab, A.J. and Brianna.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by her son, Bill in 1995; her grandson, Brad Dunker; her son-in-law, Marvin Fennern; her sister, Lillian Coats; and four brothers, Heinz, Frank, Johnny and Gait Buhr.

The family wants to thank Evergreen Estates I and Hiawatha Care Center for the excellent and loving care given to Elfrieda.