A private family Mass of Christian Burial for Iona Vandendriessche, 89, of Marshall, was held on Saturday, January 2, 2021, at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church. A livestream and recording of the service is available at www.holy-redeemer.com. A public walk-through visitation was held on Friday, January 1, 2021, from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at the Horvath Remembrance Center in Marshall. Interment followed the service at Calvary Catholic Cemetery. Mask and social distancing requirements were strictly followed at all times.
Iona M. (Bierl) Vandendriessche was born on November 15, 1931, to John and Helen (Jenniges) Bierl on her family farm near Lucan in Johnsonville Township, Redwood County. She was baptized and confirmed into her Catholic faith at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Wabasso. She attended and graduated from St. Anne’s School in Wabasso in 1949. Iona trained as a nurse and worked at the Tracy Hospital until her marriage. While at a dance, she met and was courted by a young farmer named Ray Vandendriessche. They were married while Ray was on leave from the U.S. Army on December 27, 1952, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Tracy. She joined Ray while he was stationed in El Paso, TX, and Spokane, WA, before returning to the area to farm. Iona was an active farm wife, helping with the livestock, cooking meals, and hauling wagons of picked corn. The farm is where she loved to be, and she took much pride in canning produce, tending a large garden, and caring for her family of 5 children.
Iona and Ray moved to their home in Marshall in the winter of 1985. Even in retirement, she loved to keep busy with baking large batches of Belgian cookies, lunching with her close friends, and even serving on the Lyon County DAC Board and being an activist for children and young adults with disabilities, especially her daughter, Carrie.
Iona thoroughly enjoyed traveling, playing cards, feeding birds, and dancing the polka hop with the love of her life, but her greatest joy was her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and afternoons spent with Carrie.
Iona passed away peacefully of natural causes unrelated to Covid-19 on Tuesday, December 29, 2020, at Heritage Pointe Senior Living in Marshall.
Iona is survived by her sons Michael (Kim) of Cedar Falls, IA, Ron (Linda) of Marshall, Gary (Mary Jo) of Marshall, and daughters Marlene (Alan) Verdoes of Marshall, and Carrie Vandendriessche of Marshall; grandchildren Jamie (Steve) Baldwin, Katie (Bryan) Jackson, Bryce (Nicole) Vandendriessche, Danica (Chad) Strehlow, Austin (Hannah) Vandendriessche, Jena (Dayton) Schwieger, Ryan (Bobbi) Vandendriessche, Eric (Ramy) Vandendriessche, Kevin (Ashley) Verdoes, Kelsey Verdoes (Gunnar Vien), and Kyle (Mallory) Verdoes; 18 great-grandchildren: Benjamin and Brooke Baldwin, Avery, Tatum, and Conor Jackson, Natalie, Noah, and Jacob Schwieger, Rae and Levi Vandendriessche, Wren Vandendriessche, Tyson, Kinsley, and Sadie Verdoes, Hunter and Rykar Vien, and Keaton and Kade Verdoes; and sister-in-law Dorothy Vandendriessche. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Ray, sisters and their spouses Anita (LaMoine) Meyer and Helen (Peter) Lenertz, brothers-in-law and their spouses George (Kathleen) Vandendriessche, Richard Vandendriessche, Paul (Alice) Vandendriessche, Leon (Helen) Vandendriessche, and Robert (Rosemary) Vandendriessche.
Iona will be forever missed, but never forgotten. The family thanks the staff at Heritage Pointe Senior Living and Avera Hospice for their care of Iona.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Advance Opportunities or Avera at Home Hospice.
Arrangements with Horvath Funeral Service, www.horvathfuneralservice.com