Keith Hiemstra, 93, Mitchell, died Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015, at Avera Brady Health and Rehab in Mitchell.
Services were Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015, at the Bittner Funeral Chapel in Mitchell. Burial was in the Trinity Lutheran Cemetery, Storla. Visitation was Friday evening at the Bittner Funeral Chapel.
Keith Latrel Hiemstra was born Feb. 28, 1922, at Kingsley, Iowa, to Jay and Marguerite (Bruce) Lehner. She attended Union Country School in Union Township, rural Plymouth County, Iowa.
On Sept. 29, 1941, she married Orlo Hiemstra in Wayne, Neb. They farmed near Kingsley, Iowa, until 1953, when they began farming in the Mitchell area. In 1974, they moved to a farm in the Storla area, where she worked in the Storla Sunset Nursing Home for many years.
Keith was an active 4-H Leader and Extension Club member. She enjoyed her grandkids’ sporting events, and also writing letters was a favorite pastime, but most of all, she enjoyed the time spent with her family.
She is survived by her children, Delbert (DeAnna) Hiemstra, Surprise, Ariz., Norma (Rodney) Tuttle, Mitchell, Beverly (Rodney) Spelbring, Gillette, Wyo., Darla Kjelden, Brandon, Merlin (Mike) Hiemstra, Seffner, Fla., Dennis (Vickie) Hiemstra, Mitchell, and Bryant Hiemstra, Letcher; 17 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; one sister, Hope Freidrich, Anthon, Iowa; a brother-in-law, Maynard DeBoer, Archer, Iowa; and five sisters-in-law, Lucy Lehner and Eunice Lehner, both of LeMars, Iowa, Charlene Lehner, Milford, Iowa, Frances Hiemstra, Aurelia, Iowa, and LaVern Hiemstra, Kansas.
She was preceded in death by her husband in 2003; three brothers, John in infancy, Verl (Bud), Dale and Delmar Lehner, three sisters, Bonnie, in infancy, Joy Baker, Betty DeBoer; three brothers-in-law, Harley, Lester and Orville Hiemstra; and two sisters-in-law, Ethel Hiemstra and Katie Hiemstra.
In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established to: Fighting Blindness, 7168 Columbia Gateway Drive, Suite 100, Columbia, MD 21046.