Alice Yanke

Published 12:00 am Friday, July 9, 2010

Alice Anna Freda Yanke, 93, of Blooming Prairie, died Tuesday July 6, 2010, at Prairie Manor Care Center where she had been a recent resident. 
Alice was born on April 17, 1917, near Ellendale, the daughter of Louis and Josephine Ribbe. She married Ernest Yanke on Aug. 26, 1936, at First Lutheran Church in Ellendale.  A few years later the couple purchased a home and farmland in Newry Township, just southwest of Blooming Prairie. For the next four decades the couple worked together on their dairy farm, raising crops and six children. That farm remained home to Alice even after her beloved Ernie died in 1984. Although ill health forced her move to an assisted living center when she was 90, her heart never left the farm. Alice was an avid gardener.  Her vast vegetable garden and fruit orchard were well known in the neighborhood, and year after year her family and friends benefited from her bountiful harvest. Her gardening success was reflected in her kitchen, where the aroma of apple pies, rhubarb tort, jams, jellies, preserves, pickles and sauerkraut filled the air on any given day. In addition to being a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Alice was an active member of Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church and the church’s Rebecca Circle and Quilting Club. Her family is confident that her many hand-sewn quilts continue to warm the lives of needy children in the world. She was a lifelong respected and caring neighbor in Newry Township.
She is survived by one son, James (Barb) Yanke of Dodge Center; four daughters, Janice (Virgil) Gerlach of Conroe of Texas, Ilene (Tom) Powell of Pleasant Hill, Ore., Eunice Yanke of Pueblo West, Colo. and Diane (Jack) Moser of Osceola, Wis.; daughter-in-law, Marlies Yanke of Nixa, Mo.; 12 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; sisters, Ella Nelson of Albert Lea, Esther Christensen of New Richland; and brother, Orrin Ribbe of New Richland. 
In addition to her husband, Ernest, Alice was preceded in death by her parents; sister, Leona Mogensen; brother, Clarence Ribbe; and by her son, Roger Yanke.
Funeral Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 12, 2010, at Red Oak Grove Lutheran Church with Pastor Gene Leiter officiating. Visitation is Sunday, July 11, 2010, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Worlein Blooming Prairie Funeral Home and one hour prior to the service at church. Interment is at Red Oak Grove Cemetery. 
Arrangements are by Worlein Funeral Home.
Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.worlein.com.