Marielda E. Klemme

Marielda E. Klemme, age 93, of Preston, Iowa passed away Monday, November 5, 2018 at Mercy Medical Center, Clinton, Iowa. A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m., Thursday, November 8, 2018 at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Preston. Visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at Law-Jones Funeral Home, Preston, and from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m., prior to the Mass at the church. Burial will take place in Preston Cemetery.

Marielda was born on the family farm near Preston, March 11, 1925, the daughter of George and Theresa (Entringer) Schaefer. She attended country school until the eighth grade, then graduated from the Preston High School with the Class of 1943. As a child of The Great Depression, she knew hard work, Marielda learned to milk cows and do the chores at a young age. On April 27, 1949, Marielda married the “love of her life,” Robert Delbert “Bob” Klemme. They raised four children and celebrated sixty-three years of marriage before Robert passed on August 19, 2012.

Marielda worked seventeen years for the Oxford Speaker Factory in Sabula. She also worked ten years for the Preston Schools as a custodian, retiring in 1991. Marielda was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Preston, and the American Legion Auxiliary. She loved spending time with family, especially her grandchildren, being their Grandma was the best part of life. Marielda also enjoyed gardening, playing cards, quilting, baking and sewing, you may have one of her many potholders that she made. She also like going to the Casino for entertainment.

Marielda will be dearly missed by her son, Delbert (Diane) Klemme of Preston; three daughters, Marlene (Lee) Johnson of Maquoketa, Doris (Rick) Budde of Bellevue and Ruth (Lonnie) Helmle of Spragueville; thirteen grandchildren; thirty great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Marcella Butschi of Preston and Leanna Deppe of Preston.

Marielda was preceded in death by her husband, Robert; both parents; a great-granddaughter, Jenner Johnson; a granddaughter-in-law, Theresa Budde; five brothers, Ronald, Edmund, Harold, Venoid and Joe Schaefer; and two sisters, Rieneilda Determan and Sieverna Schneider.