In Loving Memory ELDA BARTEN
Service TUESDAY,
JUNE 11, 2002, 10:30 AM ZION LUTHERAN CHURCH MANNING, IOWA
Officiating PASTOR DANIEL VOGEL
Congregational Hymns “AMAZING GRACE”
“HOW GREAT THOU ART” “JUST AS I AM” FERN JENSEN, ORGANIST
Interment MANNING CEMETERY MANNING,
IOWA
Casketbearers - Grandsons: BRYAN
ARMENTROUT, DEREK ARMENTROUT, MATTHEW BARTEN, MARK BARTEN, DOUG BARTEN, DENNIS
BARTEN, GARY BARTEN
Honorary Casketbearers - Granddaughters:
TANYA PURDY, AMBER WILLMAN, KELLY ATKINS, KRISTI SIWAJEK
THE FAMILY WISHES TO EXPRESS THEIR GRATITUDE FOR YOUR KINDNESS EVIDENCED IN THOUGHT, WORD, AND DEED, AND INVITES YOU TO JOIN THEM FOR LUNCH AND FELLOWSHIP AT THE CHURCH FOLLOWING THE COMMITTAL SERVICE.
Elda, daughter of James George and Sophia Anna (Grau) Rothfolk, was born December 28, 1913, on her parents' farm near Austin, Minnesota. When she was three, Elda’s family moved to a farm in Lincoln Township in Audubon County, Iowa. Elda attended country school in Lincoln Township through the eighth grade and attended Manning High School for two years. Following her schooling, Elda did housework in the homes of relatives and neighbors. She also worked for a short time at Wyatt Memorial Hospital in Manning.
On August 3, 1937, Elda was united in marriage with John Frederick Barten at Trinity Lutheran Church parsonage near Audubon. Four children were born to this union. Elda and John made their home on farms near Deloit and in Lincoln Township for a short time before purchasing a farm near Botna in 1941. They lived and farmed on that place until moving into Manning in 1971. Elda began working as an aide at the Manning Plaza prior to moving to town and continued her work there for several years. Elda and John enjoyed traveling to and spending the winter months in Texas for several years in the 1970s and 80s.
On February 19, 1939, Elda was baptized and confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Deloit. She was currently a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Manning. Elda was also a member of the Tri-county Social Club, Veterans Of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and was a 4-H leader. Throughout the years, she enjoyed crocheting, cooking, refinishing furniture, sewing, gardening, fishing, playing cards and listening to old time music.
After John died December 22, 1988, Elda was able to remain in their home for short time until moving to the Manning Plaza. In 1992 Elda became a resident of the Friendship Home in Audubon, Iowa, where she died Saturday, June 8, 2002. She was 88 years, 5 months and 11 days of age.
Besides her parents and husband, Elda was preceded in death by a son Robert Barten and a sister Lorraine Gruhn.
She is survived by her children: Roger Barten and wife JoAnn of Audubon; Dorothy and husband Richard Armentrout of Irwin and Linda and husband Steve Atkins of Cedar Rapids; a daughter-in-law Diane Barten of Des Moines; 11 grandchildren: Bryan Armentrout, Derek Armentrout, Matthew Barten, Mark Barten, Doug Barten, Dennis Barten, Gary Barten, Tanya Purdy, Amber Willman, Kelly Atkins and Kristi Siwajek; five great-grandchildren: Alexandra Purdy, Emerson Purdy, Evan Willman, Morgan Barten and Shelby Barten; sisters: Eileen Mundt of Manning, Delores and husband Bill Fastje of Denison, Mary Ann and husband Spence Birchard of Palm Springs, CA; brother Norman Rothfolk and wife Mary Jane of Grimes; a sister-in-law Gertie Mork of Manilla; and nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Elda (Rothfolk) Barten was born on Sunday, the 28th of December 1913 at 4:00pm on her parents' farm near Austin, Minnesota where her parents had established a farmhome after their marriage in Manning on the 26th of February 1913. She was the first child of James George Rothfolk, a son of Peter Nicholas Rothfolk and Emma Margaret Meggers Rothfolk, both natives of New Holstein, Wisconsin; and Sophia Anna Magdalena Grau Rothfolk, a daughter of August Frederick Grau and Maria Dorothea Elisabeth Hansen Grau, the former a native of Grossenaspe, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany and the latter a native of Sehestedt, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. In 1916 her parents returned to the Manning area to a farm they purchased in Lincoln Township, Audubon County, Iowa. Elda lived throughout her childhood and youth on this Lincoln Township farm. Elda completed country school in Lincoln Township through the 8th grade and graduated on 17 May 1929. She was enrolled at the Manning High School and attended for two years. Elda left high school to seek employment with various farmers and Manning residents as a hired girl, and was also employed at the Wyatt Memorial Hospital prior to her marriage. While working for August and Catherine Kettelsen Meyer she met their grandson, John Frederick William Barten, a son of John William Barten and Ada Meyer Barten (deceased) and step-son of Luise Pauline Miller Barten. Elda Rothfolk and John Barten were married on Tuesday, 3 August 1937 at 6:30 pm at the Trinity Lutheran Church parsonage by Rev. Hugo Nieting. Their attendants were Walter John Ernest Bald, cousin of the groom, and Lorraine Margaret Rothfolk (Gruhn), sister of the bride. They enjoyed a wedding trip to eastern Iowa to visit John's uncle and aunt, Henry and Margaret Barten at the Old Barten Homestead near Green Island, Iowa. Their first home was a rented farm near Boyer, Iowa. While living in Crawford County Elda was baptized and confirmed on the 19th of February 1939 into the Lutheran Church at St. John's Lutheran Church near Deloit by Rev. Ferdinand Reith. Her Confirmation verse was "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand," (John 10, 27 & 28). They lived for near Boyer for 2 years at that time they returned to a rented farm in Lincoln Township. They remained in Lincoln Township until 1941 when they purchased their farm near Botna. They lived there and engaged in farming until retirement in 1971 when they moved to their retirement home in Manning. Elda began working at the Manning Plaza prior to moving to town and continued to work at the Manning Plaza as an aide for several years after retiring to Manning.
In their retirement years Elda and John enjoyed fishing and camping trips with their grandchildren, traveling to visit family away from Manning, and spending the winter months in Texas or Arizona. Elda was also a long-time member of the Tri-County Club. John passed away suddenly on December 22, 1988. Elda remained in her home until entering the Audubon Friendship Home in 1991 where she has resided until her death on June 8, 2002.
Elda was preceded in death by:
her husband, John Barten
a son, Robert Barten
her parents, James and Sophia Rothfolk
her parents-in-law, John and Pauline Barten
her sister, Lorraine Gruhn
her brothers-in-law, August Mundt and Frank Suhay
her brother and sister-in-law, Richard Barten and Ida Barten
her brother-in-law, Walter Barten
her sister and brother-in-law, Lorraine and Frank Danner