Rowene Mae Wilken

Rowene Mae Wilken was born on May 29, 1912, the daughter of Henry and Anna Bornhoft Schoessler. She died at St. Anthonys Nursing Home in Carroll, Iowa, at the age of ninety-eight years and ten months.
Rowene graduated from the Westside High School with the class of 1930, and was the first class that graduated from the new brick high school building. Later that year, she was united in marriage to Hubert Wilken. To this union three children were born, Shirley, Vern and Dennis. Hubert died in January 2001 after 70 years of marriage.
She was a lifelong member of St. Johns Church in Westside and later the United Church when the churches joined. She was very active in the church and taught Sunday school for 20 years. In her younger years, she was very active in the Order of the Eastern Star. She was a good farm wife, loving and caring, a wonderful mother and grandmother whose greatest interest was her family. In her leisure time, she enjoyed playing cards and in later years, traveling throughout 47 of the contiguous 48 states, enjoying winters in southern Texas.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Hubert; her son, Dennis; and son-in-law, Ralph; her parents; three brothers, Walter, Arthur, and Leonard; her sister, Hattie and one great-grandson, Eddie. Survivors include: her daughter, Shirley; her son, Vern and his wife, JoAnn; and her daughter-in-law, Julie; nine grandchildren;23 great-grandchildren and15 great-great-grandchildren; one sister, Ruthana; and many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Her memory will live on with all who loved her.