Verna Olive (Hale) Kimberling

Verna Olive Kimberling, 103, of Tipton, completed her life’s work on Sunday, August 12, 2018. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, August 18th at 10:00 am at the First United Church of Christ in Tipton with the Rev. Tommi Boeder officiating. Burial will take place at the Red Oak Cemetery and luncheon will follow in the basement of the Red Oak Church. Visitation will be on Friday, August 17th from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at Fry Funeral Home with a D.A.R. service beginning at 4:30 pm. Online condolences may be shared with her family at www.fryfuneralhome.com.

Verna Kimberling passed away August 12, 2018 at her home in Tipton just sly of her 104th birthday on her mother's and her daughter's birthdays.
Verna Olive Hale was born September 4, 1914 on a farm near Lamont, Iowa. She attended country school there until her parents, George & Sadie Hale, moved near Delhi, Iowa where she graduated with the Class of 1931. She moved to St. Paul, MN where she lived with her sister, Mildred Houck, and worked in a restaurant for several years. She moved back with her parents, and by that time they had moved to Cedar County, Iowa. While walking to get the mail one day, a young man was driving by and asked her if she wanted a ride home and eventually she married Vernon Paul Kimberling on December 24, 1935 in Rock Island, Illinois. He worked first by the day, then by the month and finally they rented the farm until they bought it in 1964 where they lived until his death. (Her father-in-law started renting that farm in about 1916, then they rented it and then Victor purchased the farm having a Kimberling living on it over 100 years.)
She worked hard on the farm raising and dressing chicken, walking bean fields, raising a large garden and canning. Upon coming home from school she always had freshly baked cookies, cakes or bread for her hungry children.
She was a member of Red Oak King's Daughters and the Red Oak Presbyterian church until it closed, and then attended the United Church of Christ as long as she was able, a member of the DAR and a neighhood coffee gathering. They enjoyed dancing. After moving to Tipton you would find her walking most every day until around 90 years and sometimes she and some friends would stop at Hardee's for a snack, she played cards several times per week and read a lot of books. After she broke her hip on her 100th birthday she started doing the adult coloring books and when she was 102 she obtained her driver's license. Her mind was very sharp but her body just wore out.
She is survived by her 3 children, Virginia (Howard) Osborn, Midland, OH; Joyce (Robert) Kuhnle, Marengo, Iowa; and Victor Kimberling, rural Mechanicsville, IA. Seven grandchildren: Kent Osborn, Iowa Falls, IA; Scott (Jeannie) Osborn, Bainbridge, GA; and Vicki (Tom) Duski, Mooresville, NC; Kevin (Elissa) Kuhnle, South Amana, IA,; Craig (Cassy Jaeger) North English, IA; Pamela (John) Freeman, Des Moines, IA.; and Zach Kimberling Six great grandchildren – Kayla, Dalton, Aaliyah, Austin, Stephanie & Michael. And 4 step great grandchildren Nora, Carly, Claire & Casen.
 

Verna is survived by her three children, Victor Kimberling, Virginia Osborn and Joyce Kuhnle; and several grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1982; two sisters, Mildred and Evelyn; and her brother, Carl.

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