Ialee Marie Sikkink

Macken Funeral Home Memorial Photo
Date of Birth:
Sunday, December 9, 1928
Date of Death:
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Age:
90 years old

Visitation

Date: Tuesday December 03, 2019
Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Location: River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home [ view map ]

Funeral Service

Date: Tuesday December 03, 2019
Time: 11:00 am

Location: River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home [ view map ]

Macken Funeral Home Memorial Photo
Date of Birth:
Sunday, December 9, 1928
Date of Death:
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Age:
90 years old
Macken Funeral Home Memorial Photo
Date of Birth:
Sunday, December 9, 1928
Date of Death:
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Age:
90 years old

Ialee Marie Sikkink

Ialee Marie (Grathwohl) Sikkink, age 90, of Rochester, died on Thursday, November 28, 2019 at

Samaritan Bethany Care Center. Ialee was born on December 9, 1928, in Iowa City, Iowa, the oldest of seven children of Walter and Minnie (Roth) Grathwohl. When she was two, the family moved to southern Minnesota and farmed near Oakland, Rose Creek, and Grand Meadow. Ialee graduated from Grand Meadow High School in 1947 and the Kahler School of Nursing in Rochester in 1950. She worked as a registered nurse for 17 years at the Rochester Methodist Hospital, the Austin Medical Center, and the Preston Nursing Home.

On December 19, 1953, Ialee married Duane “Bud” Sikkink in Grand Meadow. They lived in the Spring Valley area for 12 years, then moved to Wykoff in 1965 where they farmed and raised their three children: Ann, Judy, and Kevin. In 1991, they retired from farming and moved to Rochester, where both Ialee and Bud volunteered at the Methodist Hospital gift shop. As Bud’s health failed, Ialee was his faithful caregiver for many months.

Ialee was a member of the Rochester Methodist Hospital Auxiliary and received a service award for over 4,000 hours of volunteer service. She is a past member of the Wykoff United Methodist Church and the Church of the Savior in Rochester, MN, where she taught Sunday School and held various church leadership positions. Ialee loved to bake, crochet, and listen to country music. She was an avid reader, especially her Bible, and loved to attend Bible study groups. Her favorite pastime, though, was spending time with her family, especially her six grandchildren.

Ialee is survived by her children Ann (Brian) Johnson, Austin, MN, Judith (Dave) Wenzel, White Bear Lake, MN, and Kevin (Lisa) Sikkink, Rochester, MN; grandchildren Kim (Tom) Christner, Katie Johnson, Erin (James) West, Alexi Wenzel, Abby Wenzel, and Aaron Timm; sister Jean (Steve) Smith ; brothers Robert (Shirley) Grathwohl and Warren (Sheila) Grathwohl; sister-in-law Bernice Grathwohl; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband Bud, her parents, brothers Gale and Richard Grathwohl, and sister Elaine Mariner.

The funeral for Ialee M. Sikkink will be at 11 :00 a.m. Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at the Macken Funeral Home River Park Chapel with Rev. Mark Rader officiating.  Private family burial will take place at a later date in Cherry Grove Cemetery in Cherry Grove, MN.  Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home on Tuesday.

Memorials are preferred to Samaritan Bethany Care Center, Seasons Hospice, or the charity of your choice.

The family would like to express our sincere gratitude to the staff at Samaritan Bethany Care Center and Seasons Hospice for their kindness and loving care of our mother and grandmother during the past several months.

Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com

Condolences

The family of Ialee Marie Sikkink has received the following condolences.

So sorry for your loss, a mother's passing can be difficult. Praises that she is now in heaven with your Dad! Sending thoughts and prayers your way for the coming months of transition without her. 

My condolences to the family of Ialee. I got to know Ialee and Bud while working in the gift shop of Methodist Hospital. They were wonderful people who were very kind to me and also my parents when they moved to Rochester. Ialee was so proud of her family and would tell me what each person was doing when we exchanged letters at  Christmas and in birthday cards. So sorry for your loss.


Carla Harner


 


 


 


Harner


 


 

Bud and Ialee were faithful members of Church of the Savior for many years.  We have good memories of our times together there.  We visited Ialee a number of times at Shorewood but it's been a few years since we saw her last.  However, we will never forget her beautiful smile and cheerful laugh!  We took her with us to Cowboy church in Cherry Grove a couple of times while she was still in her home and enjoyed those excursions.  Unfortunately, we have a previous commitment for Tuesday morning and will not be able to attend her service.  But we will be thinking of her and you and wish you all the best.  Roger and Sarabeth Watson


 

During this Thanksgiving week I am remembering with gratitude my Aunt Ialee.  I am so very grateful to Ialee and her family for the many summer vacations at their farm in Wycoff.  I have so many happy memories there of rides on the tractor, cows and calves, barbie dolls, raspberries and real cream, and many happy hours in that big kitchen playing cards and of course eating delicious food.  I am grateful that Ialee wrote down memories of her childhood.  I am especially grateful to Ialee for the extraordinary love and support she had shown me this last three years with the illness and loss of my own husband.  I will remember her as being loving, compassionate and supportive even as her own physical health failed.


From a favorite passage shared with me:  Our loved ones are a gift to us, their presence a blessing when they are on this earth.  After they have gone, we mourn, and then we celebrate the life they lived, the love they shared, the difference they made for having been in our lives.  And from Winnie-the-Pooh: How lucky I am to have something that makes saying good-bye so hard.  All my love to you.  Dawn (Grathwohl) Hammitt

Sikkink family, our prayers are with you during this difficult time.  Remember all the things about your mom that made her so special.  Judy, so sorry to hear your mom has passed. Blessings to you all.


ShariHenderson 

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all during this time of loss.  Aunt Ialee was such a sweet women.  One of my fondest memories of her were our family gatherings at the farm.  Watching her in the kitchen, preparing the most delicious meals in what seemed like an effortless manner.  We'd eat, go back out to play and a few hours later, there she was, doing it all again!  She had a servants heart and I always felt loved by her and uncle Bud.  I pray that you are taking comfort in knowing that she is reunited with other loved ones and is resting peacefully with our Lord.  My love to you.         


       Connie


 


 

Our sincere condolences, love and prayers to your family on the loss of your mother.  She may be gone physically but her spirit and memory will live on forever in her family.  ❤️??