March 19, 2024

Mollie Beth Sumner

Dec. 1, 2016

Mollie Beth “Buff” Sumner, 59, of Kellogg, died Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. A celebration of life service will be at 1 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5 at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell with the Rev. John Epperson officiating. Visitation with the family present will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6 at Our Silent City Cemetery in Kellogg. Honorary bearers will be Rick Barton, Bobby Hagen, Ed Hardman, Roger Rawlins, Kevin Walker and Guy Winchell. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Mollie B. Sumner Memorial Fund.

Mollie was born Aug. 12, 1957, in Grinnell, the daughter of LeRoy and Maggie Stepp Foster. She was raised in Kellogg, and graduated from Newton High School in 1975. On June 4, 1988, she was united in marriage to Charles I. Sumner in Grinnell. The couple continued to make their home in Kellogg.

Following her education, she moved to Rock Springs, Wyo., where she kept busy being a mom while being employed in the area. She returned to Kellogg in 1985, and began her career in the office of the Vernon Company in Newton. She retired in 2015. Mollie enjoyed gardening, playing cards, listening to music and reading. Sharing her time and socializing with family and friends were a big part of her life.

Family members include three children, Megan Sumner of Denver, Colo., Dustin Sumner of Phoenix, Ariz., and John Sumner of Kellogg; and three sisters, Faye Hutchinson of Gilbert, Ariz., Sue Streeter of Ankeny and Cindy Brown of Boulder, Wyo. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Chuck in 2007; and one sister, Judith Doane.