Alma Derner, age 87, of Carroll, Iowa, died Wednesday, March 23, 2011, at St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll.
Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 A.M., Saturday, March 26, 2011, at Holy Spirit Church in Carroll. The Celebrant will be Father Timothy Johnson. The casket will be taken to the church at 8:30 A.M. Saturday to lie in state until the time of the funeral mass. Lector will be Michael Meyers. Gift Bearers will be Janet Schulte and Diane Harrison. Mass Servers will be Jacob, Nathan, and Kyle Derner. Eucharistic Ministers will be Alma’s brothers, Gene, Jim, and Don Derner. Casket Bearers will be Neil Glass, Tony Knobbe, Mike Bruning, Dale Derner, Gina Hults, Doug Derner, Margaret Quandt, and Anne Madsen. Music will be provided by Barb McDermott and the Holy Spirit Choir. The Breda American Legion Auxiliary will form an honor guard at the church. Graveside Services will be at 1 P.M. Saturday at St. Bernard Cemetery in Breda. Friends may call at the Sharp Funeral Home in Breda, Iowa, after 5 P.M. Friday. A rosary will be prayed at 5:30 P.M. Friday followed by a prayer service at 6:30 P.M. Friday by Holy Spirit Parish. Memorials may be left at the funeral home or church for New Hope Village or the Knights of Columbus Rosary Foundation.
Alma was born on March 7, 1924, at Auburn, Iowa, the daughter of Arthur J. and Marguerite (Grote) Derner. She attended rural school in the Auburn area and St. Bernard School in Breda. Her family moved to a farm near Breda in 1939 and she assisted families in the Breda area as a housekeeper and homemaker. Upon the death of her mother in 1947 she returned home to assist in the care of her siblings. In 1961 she became employed at the Breda News Office and following the death of her father in 1972 she moved to Carroll where she was employed in the dietary department of the Carroll Health Center Nursing Home for 24 years. From 1997 to her retirement in 2002 Alma was employed part time by the Holy Spirit School Hot Lunch Program. She was a member of Holy Spirit Parish, Parish Ladies Guild, Breda American Legion Auxiliary, and charter member of the National Catholic Society of Foresters. Alma enjoyed caring for her family, cooking, sewing, reading, volunteer work, and a good card game.
Survivors include her brothers, Gene Derner and his wife Vera of Dedham, Jim Derner and his wife Lollie of Sac City, and Don Derner and his wife Peggy of Lake View; her sisters, Mae Knobbe and her husband Mark of Carroll, Eileen Bruning of Garden Grove, Calif., Colett Meyers and her husband Bob of Lake View, Ione Schloegel of Rochester, Minn., and Annette Ratigan of Bancroft; and by many nieces, nephews, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; a sister, Zeta Glass; a brother, William Derner; and by brothers-in-law, Ray Glass, Glenn Bruning, Frank Schloegel, and Bob Ratigan.