Clara Agnes Townsend

Clara Agnes Townsend, 92, died peacefully March 11, 2018. A funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 15 at the Wallace Family Funeral Home and Crematory. The family will greet friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral home. Memorials to the Metz Church or Baxter Fire and Rescue may be left at the funeral home.

Clara, the daughter of Lafe and Lizzie (Slykhuis) Boucher, was born July 2, 1925, in Mingo. She graduated from Mingo High School in 1943. Clara was united in marriage to Harry Wayne Townsend Nov. 12, 1944, in Unionville, Mo. They lived in the Newton area before moving to the farm by Kellogg and later moved to rural Colfax, where they spent many years farming and raising livestock. Clara was a homemaker, loved working in her large garden, taking care of her chickens and gathering their eggs. She also worked off the farm at Newton Manufacturing, Dunlap and Coast to Coast in Newton, and was an active member of the Metz Community Church. Many remember her excellent homemade chocolate chip cookies, breads and pies, all from scratch. One of her favorite past-times was reading books and playing cards, some would even say she cheated!

Clara is survived by her son, Steven “Pete” (Terri) Townsend of Colfax; daughter, Loutricia “Tootie” (Rick) Samson of Baxter; grandchildren, Travis (Kaleigh) Townsend, Stacie (Shane) Daniels, Jeremy (Lindsey) Samson, Joshua (Kimberly) Samson and Ashley Samson; great-grandchildren, Mercedes, Lexi, Carter, Cody, Rylee, Rozlyn and Rihanna Samson; her sister, Marianne Peck of Des Moines; brother-in-law, Butch Townsend of Newton; and sisters-in-law, Nancy Townsend of Newton, Helen Townsend of Newton, Ruthie (Harold) Follen of Durant, Mich., and Cathy Townsend of Coralville. She was preceded in death by parents; her son, Jeff in 1971; husband, Wayne in 1991; siblings, Mike, Henry, Morris, John and Lee Boucher, Mae Deaton, Nellie Bell and Marguerite Smith.