Alice J. Beenken, 88, of Grundy Center, Iowa, died Friday, September 12, 2014, Grundy Care Center while under the care of Care Initiatives Hospice. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 at 10:30 a.m. at American Lutheran Church in Grundy Center, Pastor Luther Thoresen officiating. Burial will follow at Rose Hill Cemetery, Grundy Center, Iowa. Visitation will be Monday, September 15, 2014, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Engelkes-Abels Funeral Home in Grundy Center, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to the family.
Alice June, the daughter of Karl and Ella (Vink) Boedeker was born April 25, 1926 in Janesville, Iowa. She graduated from Cedar Falls High School in 1945.
Alice married Herman Lutjen Beenken Jr. at St. John's Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa on June 11, 1950. The couple lived in Grundy County on the family farm. Alice was a devoted wife and mother. She was a homemaker and was an active volunteer at American Lutheran Church in Grundy Center, where she was a member for many years. She enjoyed jigsaw puzzles traveling and visiting with friends and family. Alice was an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan and attended many football games over the years.
She is survived by three daughters, Sharron and her husband Vernon Kruger of Grundy Center, Sharlene and her husband Ken Buskohl of Grundy Center, Darlene and her husband Dave Lutterman of Wellsburg; one son, Vernon and his wife Nancy Beenken of Derby, Kansas; thirteen grandchildren; nineteen great- grandchildren; one sister-in-law, Emma Boedeker of Hendersonville, North Carolina.
Alice was preceded in death by parents; her husband in 1994; three sisters, Henrietta Macon, Gladys Lea, Catherine Boedeker in infancy; three brothers, Sidney Boedeker, Burliegh Boedeker and one in infancy.