Madaline E. Sager's Obituary
Madaline E. Sager, long-time resident of Centerville, died Wednesday, January 19, 2017, aged 97 years, in Des Moines. She was born October 11, 1919 at the home of her mothers parents near Moravia. She was the daughter and first child of Charles Franklin Houser and Mary Ethel (Main) Houser.
Growing up on a farm just east of Centerville, she attended Lynn Grove, a one-room school that served the nearby farm and coal-mine families. She graduated from Centerville High School in 1936 and completed a year of junior college in 1938. Qualified to teach in the rural school system, she taught one year at Sharon and two years at Lynn Grove (during which time her students included her two younger sisters).
Madaline loved teaching, and in later years she often remarked at the pleasure she had received from "seeing the light bulb go on" in a students head. Unfortunately, she had to give up her career in order to marry her high school sweetheart, William A. Sager, since teachers then were required to be unmarried. The wedding took place July 20, 1941, at Lancaster, Missouri. Over the years, Bill and Madaline were as devoted to each other as it was possible for a couple to be.
After Bill returned from service in the Army Air Corps in England and France in 1945, the family began to expand. Tom was born in 1946, Jim in 1950 and Diane in 1952. When the children were little, Madaline enjoyed reading to them (but at times, so tired and sleepy from household chores that the children, unable themselves to read but having memorized the story from countless previous hearings, would correct her, saying: "Mama, thats not what it says"). When they reached school age she became very active in Cub Scouts, Brownies and Band Mothers.
Later, she became fascinated by genealogy, a passion she shared in particular with Jim. Her correspondence and her personal investigations at the Appanoose County courthouse and the Drake Avenue Library extended our knowledge especially about the familys Houser and Henderson branches.
Madaline lived in Centerville at 415 North 18th Street for nearly 70 years. She and Bill had bought the property in 1946 when it was occupied by a tiny house that was heated by a coal-burning, pot-bellied stove. The family demolished that house in 1958 and built a bigger house on the same lot, largely with their own hands. After Bill died in 1991, Madaline continued to live at 415, but she began to spend most winters at Jims house in Des Moines. Finding it increasingly difficult to manage 415 on her own, in 2011 she moved to Wesley Acres on Grand Avenue in Des Moines. Three years later, she finally sold 415.
Preceding Madaline in death were her husband and a baby brother. Surviving her are her children: Thomas William Sager, married to Robin Ruth Alexander and living in Austin, Texas; James Franklin Sager, married to Jean Schustek and living in Johnston, Iowa; and Linda Diane Brown, married to Jerry Brown and living in Des Moines. Also surviving are her sisters: Dorthy, married to Carl Stanton and living in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and Doris Columbus of Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Private graveside services will be held. A memorial has been established to the Alzheimer's Association and may be mailed to Lange Funeral Home and Crematory, 1900 South 18th Street, Centerville, Iowa 52544. Condolences may be shared online at www.langefh.com.
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