Winona M. Barfels, 88, of Reinbeck, Iowa, died Monday, December 25, 2006, at Parkview Manor Nursing Home in Reinbeck, of natural causes. Funeral services will be 10:30 A.M., Thursday, December 28, 2006, at First Presbyterian Church in Grundy Center, Iowa, with Pastor Daniel C. Graham officiating. Burial will be at 1:00 P.M., on Thursday, at the Reinbeck Cemetery in Reinbeck, Iowa. Visitation will be Wednesday, December 27, 2006, from 1:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., with the family present to greet friends from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., at French Hand Funeral Home in Reinbeck. An Eastern Star Service will be given by the Coinette Chapter #273 of Reinbeck at 7:00 P.M. on Wednesday evening at the funeral home. Memorials may be directed to First Presbyterian Church in Grundy Center or to the Reinbeck Library.
Winona Margaret (Plaehn) Barfels was born on March 16, 1918, in rural Grundy County, Iowa, the daughter of Roy and Mary (Sorensen) Plaehn. She attended Dike High School. On May 28, 1935, Winona was united in marriage to Lester G. Barfels at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Lester died on April 29, 2004. Winona loved her husband and family. She and Lester enjoyed traveling in their motor home, as well as fishing and boating. Winona loved to read and she had a special flower garden with many wildflowers. She always planted sweet peas as she carried them in her wedding bouquet. In January of 2001, Lester and Winona moved off the farm and became residents of Westview Estates in Reinbeck. Winona was a member of the First Presbyterian Church and White Circle in Grundy Center, and a member of the Order of the Eastern Star Coinette Chapter #273 of Reinbeck.
She is survived by one son Jay Barfels and his wife Patricia of Bellevue, Iowa; two daughters Kay Weiss and her husband Paul of Reinbeck, Iowa; Joy Strasser and her husband Vernon of Davenport, Iowa; ten grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren; and one great-great grandson; and one sister-in-law Katherine Jo Plaehn of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Lester; one brother; two grandsons; and one great-grandson.