Edna Yoder

IOWA CITY - Edna Yoder, 86, of Iowa City, died Wednesday, January 10, 2018, at Oaknoll Retirement Residence in Iowa City. Celebration of Life Service will be held on Saturday, January 20th at 10:30 am at East Union Mennonite Church, 5615 Gable Ave., Kalona. Burial will be held prior to the service at 9:30 am in the East Union Cemetery. Visitation will be on Friday, January 19th from 2-8 pm at Yoder-Powell Funeral Home, 504 12th St., Kalona, where the family will greet friends from 2-4 and 6-8 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to East Union Mennonite Church or Iowa City Hospice.
Edna was born on December 9, 1931 near Fairbank, IA to Menno and Fannie (Yoder) Bontrager. She grew up in the Kalona, IA area. In 1949, her family moved to McMinnville, Oregon for about a year and a half and then moved back to the Kalona area. Edna married Earl M. Yoder at East Union Mennonite Church on August 10, 1952. They lived in Iowa City, IA and later spent winters in Scottsdale, AZ. Following Earl's death in 2006, Edna moved to Oaknoll Retirement Residence in 2009. Edna worked as a nurse's aide in the polio ward of University Hospital from 1951 to 1953. She was a Girl Scout leader for many years while her daughters were growing up, and served on the board of the Mississippi Valley Girl Scouts for six years. Edna was a member of East Union since 1945. She taught 7th grade Bible school classes there for ten years and was a Sunday school teacher for various Jr High and High School classes over the years. She was on the decorating committee when the church was remodeled in 1974 and when the church remodeled again in 2000, she brought up the idea of having a place to keep East Union's historical items and headed up the committee to start it. She was president of East Union's WMSC for 2 years and held various other offices over the years in WMSC and Mennonite Women. She worked for Earl Yoder Construction Co. as Earl's secretary for several years. She enjoyed sewing, quilting, and traveling. Earl and Edna gave many Iowa Hawkeye football players a home-away-from-home over the years. Edna had a good sense of humor and will be missed by her family and friends.
Edna is survived by her daughters and their husbands: Barbara and Randy King of Lake Charles, LA; and Deb and Jim Miller of Iowa City, IA; and son-in-law: Steve Auen of Missoula, MT; six grandchildren: Brian Miller and his wife Kari of Coralville, IA; Josh Tack and his wife Sarah Raz of Missoula MT; Jeff Miller and his wife Jessica of Nashville, IN; Jason Tack and his wife Kristen of Florence, MT; Maggie Lund and her husband Zach of Nashville, TN; and Sarah King of Lake Charles, LA; and four great grandchildren: Nora, Molly, and Sean Miller of Coralville, IA; and Sawyer Tack of Florence, MT. Also surviving are two siblings: Joe Bontrager and his wife Betty of Fresno, CA; and Esther Tate of Iowa City; and a brother-in-law: Joe Hershberger of Kalona. Edna was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her daughter, Jean Auen, three brothers: Amos; Perry; and Clarence Bontrager; and two sisters: Lovina Miller and Suvilla Hershberger.
Edna's family would like to thank the wonderful staff at Oaknoll for their excellent care.