Leora Beyer

A funeral service for Leora Beyer, 92, of Osage Beach, Mo., formerly of Sully, will be at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, at the St. Andrew's Lutheran Church near Sully.

Visitation will begin at noon Thursday at the Sully Garden Chapel Funeral Home. The family will be present from 5 to 7 p.m.

Leora Caroline Christensen was born on April 4, 1921, in Deer Creek Township, Webster County, near Fort Dodge, Iowa. The oldest daughter of Alfred and Marie Christensen, she was baptized on May 15,1921, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Leora was confirmed on Sept. 2, 1934, at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church near Sully. In 1921, her family moved to a farm in the Pella area, where she attended Sandridge School until the sixth grade and then Sheesley School in Mahaska County for seventh and eighth grade. The family moved to a farm near Kellogg in 1936 and then to Tracy in 1942.

Leora married Frank Beyer at her parents’ home on Jan. 14, 1942, under a pink and white arch with silver bells. To this union three children were born: Joyce, Carolyn, and Verlyn.

Frank and Leora farmed for many years near Otley, Galesburg, and Sully before finally moving to a farm between Sully and Reasnor in 1949. In 1979, they moved to their home in Sully.

Leora was devoted to her husband and to her children. She was a member of St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church, where she was actively involved with Evangelical Lutheran Church Women, church socials, Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. She loved to crochet, sew, quilt, work puzzles and play cards with her family and neighbors. During the summer months, she kept busy canning, baking and preparing coffee and lunch for men working onthe farm.

Leora went to her heavenly home on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2013, in Osage Beach, Mo., at the age of 92.

She was preceded in death by her father, Alfred Christensen; her mother, Hope Marie Christensen; her sister, Anna Christensen; and her beloved husband, Frank Beyer.

Those left to cherish her memory areher two daughters, Joyce Lauterbach of Columbia, S.C., and Carolyn Schnellof San Diego, Calif.; her son, Verlyn Beyer of Eldon, Mo.; grandchildren, Arianne Robinson, Michael Schnell, Jan Rippentrop and Matthew Schnell; great-grandchildren, Tessera Rippentrop, Ana Rippentrop and Jonathan Schnell; sister Christina Shilling; and brothers Alfred Jr. Christensen and Marinus Christensen.

Burial will take place at the St. Andrew's Cemetery near Sully. Memorials may be given to St. Andrew's Lutheran Church or American Parkinson Disease Association-Iowa Chapter. The Garden Chapel Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.