Sioux City Journal from Sioux City, Iowa • 20

4-The Sioux City Journal, Saturday, April 3, 1999 Ferne L. Davis was born Jan. 21, Ferne L. Davis, 88, of Sioux City died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at a Sergeant Bluff nursing home. Services will be at 10:30 a.m.

today at Grace United Methodist Church, with the Rev. Sheryl Ashley of; ficiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of Nelson-Berger Morningside Chapel. 1911, in Tingley Township, Iowa, the daughter of George and Floy (Nobles) Burnside.

She married Clair A. Davis on Oct. 7, 1933, in Marysville, Mo. The couple moved to Sioux City from Glenwood, Iowa, in 1951. He died Aug.

11, 1978. She was a homemaker. She was a member of Grace United Methodist Church, Daughters of the Nile Hathor Temple 38 and Girls of '68, a past mother advisor for Morningside Rainbow Assembly, a past president of Abu Bekr Shrine Kan-Duettes, and Morningside Chapter 502 Order of the Eastern Star. Survivors include a son and his wife, William G. and Sheila of Orlando, two daughters and their husbands, Connie and Dale Asmann of McCook Lake, S.D., and Nancy and Richard Gill of Flagstaff, six grandchildren, Brenda Verdoorn, Rex and Scott Asmann, Christy Pratt, Jeff Lauri Collins; 14 great- grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; and two nephews.

She was preceded in death by a grandson, Ronald Davis; a brother, George Burnside; and a sister, Helen Howard J. Cleveringa SHELDON, Iowa Howard Jacob Cleveringa, 84, of Sheldon died Wednesday, March 31, 1999, at his residence. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Archer Reformed Church in Archer, Iowa, with the Rev. J.R.

Henderson officiating. Burial will be in East Lawn Cemetery, Sheldon. Visitation will be after 2 p.m. Sunday, with the family present 4 to 6 p.m., at Vander Ploeg Funeral Home in Sheldon. Mr.

Cleveringa was born April 13, 1914, in Sheldon, the son of Gerben and Anna (DeBoer) Cleveringa. He attended school in the Sheldon area and graduated from Sheldon High School. He married Naomi Saupe on June 22, 1933, in Sibley, Iowa. The couple farmed near Archer until 1943, when they moved, to a farm in Baker Township. He also sold seed corn.

They moved into Sheldon in 1990. They spent several winters in Texas. She died June 2, 1996. He was a member of Archer Reformed Church, where he served as Sunday School superintendent and on the consistory. He also served on the Archer Cooperative Grain Co.

board of directors. He enjoyed traveling, square dancing and reading. Survivors include five daughters, Vera Petrich of Archer, Ruth Ann and her husband, Norman Van Donslear, of Milford, Iowa, Colleen and her husband, Stanley Lemkuil, of Norwalk, Iowa, Marjorie Cleveringa of Iowa Falls, Iowa, and Carol and her husband, Dudley McDowell, of Sheldon; 12 grandchildren, Linda Ensz, Mark Petrich, Emily Knight, Jean Boreen, Bryan and David Van Donslear, John and Mary Lemkuil and Andrew, Steven, Nancy and Donald McDowell; and 10 greatgrandchildren. He was preceded in death by a sister, Esther; a son-in-law, Norman Petrich; and a grandson, Paul McDowell. Ethel M.

Wessling DANBURY, Iowa Ethel Mary Wessling, 86, of Danbury died Thursday, April 1, 1999, at Horn Memorial Hospital in Ida Grove, Iowa. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Danbury, with the Rev. David Hogan officiating.

Burial will be in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday, with a rosary at 5 p.m. and a Scripture service at 7 p.m., at the church.

Arrangements are under the direction of Christensen-Ciha Funeral Home in Ida Grove. Mrs. Wessling was born Sept. 30, 1912, in Mapleton, Iowa, the daughter of Henry and Lena (Dirksen) Kurth. She graduated from Mapleton Public School in 1930.

She married Norbert Wessling on Feb. 9, 1931, in Mapleton. The couple farmed in the Danbury, Ida Grove, Moville and Le Mars, Iowa, areas, before moving into Danbury in 1955. Mr. Wessling died Oct.

22, 1994. She was employed with Danbury Catholic School, where she initiated the hot lunch program. She served as head cook until retiring in May 1981. She entered Willow Dale Care Center in Battle Creek, Iowa, in Feb- Obituaries Obituaries Pallbearers will be Rex and Scott Asmann, Jeff Davis, Chad and Jeremy Chicoine and Joe Verdoorn. Harold Hays Harold Hays SOUTH SIOUX CITY Harold Hays, 84, of Mitchell, S.D., formerly of South Sioux City, died Thursday, April 1, 1999, at Avera McKennan Hosptial in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Memorial services will be held at a later date. Arrangements are under the direction Funeral Chapel in Mitchell. Mr. Hays was born Feb 12, 1915, in Fresno, the son of Alton and Rhoda Hays. He married Lou Kirk on Jan.

22, 1956, in Rapid City, S.D. He was employed as a boilermaker and certified welder for many years. The couple lived in South Sioux City for 25 years, moving to Mitchell in September 1998. He was employed as a manager of Cathedral Squares in Mitchell. Survivors include his wife; three sons, Denny and his wife, Helen, of Vermillion, S.D., Bud and his wife, Penny, of Mitchell and Johnny of South Sioux City; three daughters and their husbands, Lynda and Harvey Steinhoff of Arvada, Tracey a and John Hudson of Sioux City and Apryl and Brad White of Wayne, 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

Nellie C. Montang Nellie C. Montang, 92, of Sioux City died Wednesday at a Sioux City nursing home. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Nelson-Berger Morningside Chapel.

Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service Monday at the funeral home. Margaret L. "Raine" White, 76, of Sioux City died Friday; Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Area Obituaries ruary 1992.

She was a member of St. Mary's Parish and Rosary Society, where she served as president, secretary and circle leader. She was active in Friendly Neighbor Club, where she held several offices. Survivors include two daughters and their husbands, Wilma and Norman Clausen of Danbury and Noreen and Richard Foxhoven of Fremont, a son, Kenneth of Danbury; 17 grandchildren; and 32 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Norma Pauline; a daughter-in-law, Judy Wessling; four brothers, LeRoy, Raymond, Wilbur and Norman Kurth; and three sisters, Clara Baker, Florence Cooper and Edna Zediker.

Bertram L. Coffin LE MARS, Iowa Bertram Losea "Bert" Coffin, 75, of Le Mars died Thursday, April 1, 1999, at Floyd Valley Hospital in Le Mars. be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at First United Methodist Church in Le Mars, with the Rev. Lynn Potter officiating.

Visitation with the family present will be at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, with a prayer service at 7:30 p.m., at the church. The body has been donated to the University of South Dakota Medical School. Arrangements are under the direction of Mauer-Johnson Funeral Home in Le Mars. Mr.

Coffin was born July 25, 1923, in Whitestone Queens, N.Y., the son of Bertram Losea and Ethel May (Harpell) Coffin. He graduated from Jamacia High School, then served in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He married Gladys M. Brown on June 13, 1945, in Inwood, Iowa.

The couple moved to Le Mars in 1958, where he was a partner in Clear Vue TV for 35 years. He was a member of United Methodist Church. He was the first person named Citizen of the Year by the Le Mars Chamber of Commerce. He was a member of Lions Club and received the Melvin Jones Fellow Award. Mr.

Coffin was a longtime scoutmaster and received the Silver Beaver Award. He also volunteered with Lifeline, Meals on Wheels and American Diabetes Association. He enjoyed golfing. Survivors include his wife: a son and his wife, Paul and Kathy of Sioux City; three daughters and their husbands, Lake Barbara and Barry Jessen, of Salt City, Utah, Phyllis and Bill Baynes of Colorado Spring, and Jane and Merlyn Pew of Yankton, S.D.; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Grace Schuster of Merritt Island, and Margaret Walker of Fort Worth, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Edith McDougall, 94, of Le Mars, Iowa died Thursday; MauerJohnson Funeral Home. Jerry L. Bobier Jerry Lee Bobier, 60, of Sioux City died Thursday, April 1, 1999, at a Sioux City hospital. Services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at First Assembly of God Church, with the Rev.

Al Weiss officiating. Burial will be in Ponca City Cemetery, Ponca, Neb. Visitation will be 2 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, with a prayer service at 5 p.m., at Becker-Hunt Funeral Home in South Sioux City. Mr.

Bobier was born Aug. 12, 1938, in South Sioux City, the son of Wilfred and Mary (Fredrickson) Bobier. He graduated from South Sioux City High School. He married Caroline Matney on June 6, 1959. He was employed with Burlington Northern Railroad.

He was a member of First Assembly of God Church and a former member of South Sioux City Police Reserves and treasurer for U.T.U, Survivors include two daughters and their husbands, Noriene and Jim Murphy of Hartington, and Dawn and Hugh Kleinberg of South Sioux City; two brothers and their wives, Junior and Phyllis of Ponca and Donald and Gaylene of Sioux City; and two grandsons, Britt and Skyler Murphy. He was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Melvin. Pallbearers will be Hugh Kleinberg, Jim Murphy and Craig, Robert, David and Kenny Bobier. Frances L. Freeman Frances Leila Freeman, 76, of Sioux City died Friday at Indian Hills Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Private family graveside services will be held on Tuesday at Omaha Valley Cemetery, Homer, Neb. Visitation will be Monday from 1 to 8 p.m., with the family present 6 to 8 p.m. and a prayer service at 7 p.m. at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Doris Forney KINGSLEY, Iowa Doris Forney, 88, of Kingsley died Thursday at Kingsley Nursing and Rehab Center.

Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday at United Methodist Church in Kingsley. Burial will be at 1 p.m. Monday in Memorial Park Cemetery, Sioux City. Visitation will be 9 a.m.

until service time Monday at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Earnest-Michaelson Funeral Home in Kingsley. Marjorie E. Robertson AKRON, Iowa Marjorie E. Robertson, 81, of Akron, formerly of San Francisco, died Thursday, April 1, 1999, at Skron Convalescent Care Center following a lengthy ilIness.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday at Plymouth Presbyterian Church in rural Akron, with the Rev. Randall Knuth officiating. Burial will be in Plymouth Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Visitation will be 10 a.m.

to 8 p.m. Sunday, with the family present 2 to 3 p.m., at Schroeder Funeral Home in Akron. Miss Robertson was born Dec. 30, 1917, in Plymouth County, the daughter of John and Ruth (Dean) Robertson. She graduated from Hawarden (Iowa) High School, then taught in rural schools in the Hawarden area.

She served in the Women Army Corps during World War II. Following her discharge, she moved to San Francisco, where she was employed with Southern Pacific Railroad for many years. She returned to Iowa in 1991 and entered Akron Care Center. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco. Survivors include a sister and her husband, Darlene and Donald "Bud" Lucken of Akron; a brother and his wife, Calvin and Derith of Akron; a sister-in-law, Opal Robertson of Akron; and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by a brother, Jay, a nephew and a niece. Farmers Union former president dies in accident Former Iowa Farmers Union President Pete Croghan was killed Tuesday in a car accident. Croghan was born and raised in Harrison County and was graduated from Modale High School. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

He and his wife, Adelaide, farmed in Harrison County and had 14 children. Croghan served as president of the Iowa Farmers Union from 1980- 1986. He also served on the IFU Board of Directors and the executive committee. At the 1996 Iowa Farmers Union Convention, Croghan was awarded the "Friend of Family Farmers" award. His efforts at the Farmers Union played an enormous role in the formulation of Iowa's corporate farming law and beginning farmers programs.

Services for Croghan will be today at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Panama. Garden of Gethsemane draws swarms of devout pilgrims "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called -Matthew 26:36 Goergen, 50, of Dallas, gesturing toward the gnarled trunk of an olive tree. "Maybe because it looks so much like it would have back then I can imagine everything so clearly." Even the most devout among the visitors agree it's unlikely that this olive grove lies at the spot where the Gospels recount Jesus spending a night of agonized prayer before his arrest and crucifixion. In the Bible, the site is not even described as a garden, only a quiet place on the of Olives where Jesus often came to pray.

The eight massive, silver-leafed olive trees in the garden are hundreds of years old, but do not date back as far as the time of Christ, the garden's keepers say. David Parsons of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem pointing to descriptions in the Book of Luke that have Jesus praying with as it were great drops of blood falling down on the ground" says the site's evocative quality makes up for its likely lack of literal authenticity. "You see these ancient olive trees the name of the place means olive press so you get a sense of pressing, of agony, of being crushed, and that's exactly what went on," he said. "'The setting truly tells the story faith tested, faith renewed." The garden of Gethsemane, naturally enough, has a gardener. For five years, 29-year-old Fayez Hamdan has tended the trees, planted the flowers, cleared the flagstone JERUSALEM (AP) Nestled at the foot of the Mount of Olives, with hedges of sweet-smelling rosemary and gently waving blossoms of purple cyclamen, it seems almost too tranquil a setting for some of the darkest hours of the Easter story.

But the garden of Gethsemane is synonymous with the most troubling of scriptural themes: betrayal, abandonment, despair, doubt's demons. During Easter week, as a season of millennial pilgrimage begins in earnest, Gethsemane a small, walled-in grove of ancient olive trees, the traditional site of Judas' kiss, the signal to Roman soldiers that Jesus was the one they had come to arrest swarms from morning until night with visitors. They clutch Bibles, murmur to one another in French or German or Japanese, listen to their tour guides or find a rocky ledge to sit alone for a few moments in silence. Modern Jerusalem is just outside the metal gates, barely kept at bay. An Israeli army jeep screeches past.

A Palestinian souvenir seller spreads his wares olive wood crucifixes, glittering rosaries on the 1 broad hood of an old red Opel. A fighter jet streaks overhead. But for many of the pilgrims passing through, the light and landscape of Gethsemane bring belief alive in a way that some of the city's more crowded, closed-in holy sites might not. "'It's very spiritual it gives me goose said Johnny A soldier fixes the crown of Jesus, played by Hector Munoz, during the final scene at St. Anthony of on Friday in the recreation of (AP photo) pathways.

He hopes to do this work for the rest of his life, he says. "It's a good job it's quiet, and you help 1 make something beautiful," he said. Hamdan, a Muslim, has never read the biblical accounts of what happened at Gethsemane, but as he works, he listens to the tour guides telling the story to visitors. Taking a brief break from his labors, leaning on his rake, Hamdan said what he had heard made a certain amount of sense. "I can imagine anyone coming 91 here to think things over, to pray, he said.

"It's a good place for About half a million pilgrims pass through Gethsemane annually, and tourist officials expect that number will double in the coming millennial year. As at the city's other holy sites, the keepers of this garden keep an eye out for potential cases of the "Jerusalem syndrome" pilgrims who become mentally unhinged and suffer delusions that they are biblical characters or on a mission from God. Israeli officials expect hundreds or even thousands of cases in the coming year. 'Every now and then I'll see someone acting a little crazy, crying, and I talk to said Raed Shaheen, a security worker at the Padua Catholic Church in Cicero, Christ's march to his crucifixion. garden.

"I try in a very polite way to see if they need help, or only a little time to pull themselves together." Anton Elias, the garden's doorkeeper, says despite the dramatic events in the Easter story with which Gethsemane is associated, its overall effect is somehow calming. "I do think there is a spiritual aspect here, but it's a very, very quiet one," he said. people seem as if they want to just experience Like many of Jerusalem's holy sites, Gethsemane has seen a layering of shrines over time. The church that abuts the garden, completed in 1924, is practically brand-new by standards of this ancient city. A Byzantine basilica at the site was destroyed in the 7th century; a Crusader structure lasted until around the 12th century.

In the alabaster basilica, lit by a few lamps and light filtering in from stained-glass windows, pilgrims prostrate themselves before a stone said to represent the Rock of Agony where Jesus prayed. don't usually go in for this, but I did it here I kissed the said the Rev. Desmond O'Grady, a Roman Catholic priest visiting from Dublin, Ireland. "It might not be the actual place where anything happened, but it feels to me somehow like an awful near Couple from Yugoslavia help pope carry cross in procession ROME (AP) Although he left a direct appeal for Kosovo unsaid, Pope John Paul II turned to a couple from the former Yugoslavia to help him carry a cross in a Good Friday procession recalling the sufferings of Christ. John Paul bore the wooden cross for the first stretch of a half-mile procession before a crowd of thousands at Rome's Colosseum candies, oil lamps and spotlights illuminating his way as he teetered past broken marble columns of the ancient amphitheater.

As in previous years, the pontiff, 78, handed the cross others picked earlier by the Vatican. The first were a married couple from the former Yugoslavia, a reference to the conflict in that country. However, the pope scrapped pre-distributed text that referred to the war in the Yugoslav province of Kosovo: "Christ is despised and rejected in those reviled and killed in the war in Kosovo, and wherever the culture of death triumphs." There was no explanation why he omitted his prepared speech. He made some briefer remarks instead. Some Italian media suggested he seemed saddened by his unmet appeals for peace in Kosovo.

John Paul made an appeal Thursday in letters to leaders of the United States, NATO and Yugoslavia, sending a papal envoy to Yugoslavia as well to express the pope's anguish over the war. NATO launched airstrikes against Yugoslavia on March 24 after diplomacy failed to end a crackdown on ethnic Albanian Peasants invade ranches RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP) Thousands of landless peasants took advantage of the Easter holiday to invade 15 ranches in northeastern Brazil, the daily Estado de Sao Paulo reported Friday. separatists in the southern Serb province of Kosovo. The Good Friday rite symbolizes the torments of Christ on the day of his crucifixion. Others chosen to carry the cross included a woman from Hong Kong, the Roman Catholic Church's only legal foothold in China, and an Orthodox priest from Romania.

John Paul is scheduled to visit Romania next month on his first pilgrimage to a predominantly Orthodox country. Holy Week culminates on Sunday with Easter. John Paul will celebrate an open-air Mass and deliver a message and Easter greetings in more than 50 languages. In Jerusalem, meanwhile thousands of pilgrims from around the world, some clutching large wooden crosses, retraced Jesus' steps to his crucifixion in observance of Good Friday. As the scent of rosemary incense wafted through the cobblestone alleys, the faithful stopped at the 14 stations marking Jesus' final journey, singing hymns and reading prayers in English, Latin, Arabic and a host of other languages.

"It's just wonderful, everyone coming together from all over the world for the same reason," said Linda Nodder from Kent, England. Franciscan monks led the procession, which began at the traditional site of Jesus' trial and ended at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, believed to be built over the place of his crucifixion and burial. Offering Guaranteed Price Pre-arrangement Plans Funded with Forethought Whole Life Insurance Policies. Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel 3220 Stone Park Boulevard Sioux City, Iowa 51104-2299 A Fitting Tribute "The Florists Who Care" Let flowers often express find what difficult we A1 Van's Flowers, Plants to say in words 1923 Pierce (712) 277-8446.