Mildred Swartzendruber

KALONA ? Mildred Arlene (Gingerich) Swartzendruber, 90, of Kalona, died Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in the Pleasantview Home in Kalona.

A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, April 21, at the Kalona United Methodist Church with the Rev. Gerry Kahler officiating. Burial will be held prior to the service, at 9:45 a.m., Friday at the Sharon Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday at the Peterseim Funeral Home in Kalona. A memorial fund has been established for the Kalona United Methodist Church and Pleasantview Building Fund.

Mrs. Swartzendruber was born March 8, 1927, in rural Wellman, the daughter of Ralph and Gertrude (Miller) Gingerich. She married Emerson Swartzendruber on Aug. 26, 1953, at the Methodist Church in Kalona.

She attended Franklin rural school. She worked in housekeeping at the Pleasantview Home for over 20 years, was a member of the Kalona United Methodist Church, and former member of the Kalona Lioness Club and the Idris Club of Kalona. She served her church in many ways, including with the United Methodist Women?s group as a circle leader, and as a Sunday school teacher. She also volunteered at the Pleasantview Home on the Care Review Committee. She enjoyed gardening, cooking, baking, making sugar mints, and loved the Chicago Cubs. She was known as a devoted wife, mother and grandmother, making her grandchildren a priority in her life, from attending their sporting and music events to baking and cooking for them.

Surviving are one daughter, Cynthia Gingerich and husband Don of Kalona; two grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; one sister, Imogene Schlabaugh and husband Emil of Kalona; and one brother, Dale Keith Gingerich and wife Ruth of Carmel, California.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Emerson, in 1998; and her sister and brother-in-law, Shirley and Jim Conrad.