Garold Jelsma's Obituary
Garold Ivan Jelsma was born on August 1, 1926 in Wayne county, Iowa and was called home by his Lord and Savior on October 1, 2016 at Mercy Hospice in Johnston, Iowa. He will be dearly missed by his family and friends. Garold was one of eight children born to Louis and Iva (Thompson) Jelsma. He spent his early years on a farm near Cambria, Iowa and attended school there. The family later moved to Confidence, Iowa where he attended Bunker Hill School. They moved to a farm near Woodland, Iowa around 1940, where he attended South Woodland School. Woodland had become home. He would spend over 50 years of his life living and working on the Jelsma family farms here. He was united in marriage with Phyllis Darlene Jackson, the love of his life, on March 15, 1952 in Leon, Iowa. They were blessed with two children, Randy and Lorri. They raised their family on their farm near Woodland. Garold was a farmer his entire life, seeing farming progress from using teams of horses to plant and harvest to tractors and self-propelled combines. Garold and his brother, Keith, farmed together for some 40 years, with never a cross word between them. He also worked with Red and Gil Clay at their sawmill and had many interesting stories to tell his children about these two bachelor brothers. He retired from farming in 1988 but continued his farming skills in his garden. In his retirement he enjoyed woodworking and enjoyed making many gifts for his family and friends, some of these with lumber milled from the family farm. In 1996, Garold and Phyllis, finally left the farm behind and moved to Clio to spend their retirement years. He was a member of the Clio Baptist Church. Garold loved music. Phyllis would often find him in the field on the tractor singing. He loved to joke and would always have a twinkle in his eye as he was joking. But most of all he loved his family. Preceding him in death were his parents, brothers Harold Jelsma, Kenneth Jelsma and Teddy Jelsma, sister Lucille Snook, and brothers-in-law, Darwin Snook, Darrell Adair, and Gene Salsberry. Survivors include his wife, Phyllis (Jackson) Jelsma; his children, Randy and Stacey Jelsma of Fort Dodge, Iowa and Alan and Lorri Eastin of Ankeny, Iowa; grandchildren, Andrew and Tina Garber, of Unionville, Missouri, Leah Jelsma of Corydon, Iowa, and Cody Eastin of Ankeny, Iowa; great-grandchildren, Adriana, Gabriel, Jasmine, and Marleah Garber of Unionville, Missouri; brother Keith Jelsma (Janet) of Decatur City, sisters, Wilma Adair, of Carlisle, Iowa, and Reva Negley of Osceola; sisters-in-law, Wilma Johnson (Phil), Charlene Salsberry, of Corydon, and Sherryl Selby (Wesley) of Allerton, Iowa, many nieces, nephews and other family members and friends. Funeral service will be 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at the Clio Baptist Church. Interment will immediately follow at Evergreen Cemetery in Lineville. Visitation will be Tuesday, October 4, 2016 at Thomas Randolph Funeral Home in Allerton from 6-8 p.m. Memorials may be given to the family which will be designated at a later time and condolences may be shared at www.thomasfh.com. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Garold Jelsma please visit our Sympathy Store. Cemetery Details Evergreen Cemetery lineville road
25th St
Lineville, IA 50147 Visitation OCT 4. 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (CDT) Thomas Funeral Homes-Allerton 100 S Wayne StAllerton, IA 50008[emailprotected] Funeral Service OCT 5. 11:00 AM (CDT) Clio Baptist Church 211 Central AveClio, IA 50052
What’s your fondest memory of Garold?
What’s a lesson you learned from Garold?
Share a story where Garold's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Garold you’ll never forget.
How did Garold make you smile?