Arlene Lansing

    Arlene Clara (Brincks) Lansing quietly departed the hill country of Northeast Iowa to join her beloved husband, Lawrence, in heaven on May 23 after a brief illness. She was 82. Memorial services will be held Saturday, June 1st, at 1:00 PM at St. Francis de Sales Church in Ossian, IA, with Fr. Robert Gross officiating. Inurnment will be at the church cemetery. Friends may call from 11:00 AM until the time of services Saturday at the church. Martin Funeral Home in Waukon, IA, is handling arrangements. In lieu of flowers, memorials can be to St. Francis de Sale Church for their maintenance fund.

     Arlene Clara Lansing was born to Anton and Mathilda Brincks in the tiny burg of Festina, IA, on March 27, 1937. They soon bought a farm near Ossian, IA, where Arlene would learn both her tremendous work ethic and effortless ability to pluck chickens. And if she looked across the neighbor’s field and the gravel road, she could see the old, two-story, foursquare farmhouse where a youngster babied by his eight sisters was growing up. That boy turned out to be Lawrence, who would eventually marry Arlene on June 29, 1955.

     The couple would briefly settle in Ossian before moving to the farmhouse where Lawrence grew up, and there they would raise a family of their own. First came Gail, then Carolyn and Norma. Dean gave them their first son and Brian followed close behind. Darla and Donna rounded out the brood, filling that little farmhouse to the brim while providing plenty of free labor for the farm.

     With that many children and a busy farm, there was little time for hobbies. But Arlene was a marvelous cook, often mixing up homemade bread in a huge washtub. She also would sew and embroider, garden and read, and those hobbies she would continue for the rest of her life.

     As her own children grew and married, Arlene was blessed with an abundance of grandchildren who would stuff their cozy house in Castalia, IA. They fondly remember the massive meals she would make for the holidays, headlined by turkey and ham, potato salad and cheesecake, and the riced potatoes she insisted on making rather than mashed. Depending on the holiday, pandemonium would then ensue as kids began to tear open Christmas presents, or raced into the back yard for an Easter egg hunt.

     Arlene worked full-time at Northern Engraving in Waukon, IA, until the age of 71, when the factory closed down. That simply gave her more time to spoil her grandchildren and the great grandchildren -- now numbering 35 -- that began to join the family. She would soon move with Lawrence to Waukon, where her husband would pass away on March 11, 2012, with his doting wife by his side.

     Now, Arlene is once again by his side, and they almost certainly have resumed the good-natured bickering that everyone dear to them knew was a hallmark of their relationship.

     Her surviving children include Gail Butterworth of Ottawa, IL; Carolyn (Dennis) Rausch of Fort Atkinson, IA; Norma (Larry, deceased) Skretta of Prairie Village, KS; Dean (Gail) Lansing of Waukon; Brian (Janelle Burckart) Lansing of Waukon; Darla (Greg) Schnuelle of Ossian; and Donna (Roger) Kolsrud of Waukon.

     Her grandchildren include Krista Potter, Josh Potter, Alexandra (Tim) Turczyn, Darren (Heather) Rausch, Nathan (Diane) Rausch, Eric (Becca) Rausch, Matthew (Amy) Skretta, David (Kelly) Skretta, Julie (Matt) Gardner, Katie (Nate, fiancé) Lansing, Jessa (Bobby) Burns, Liza (Jason) Connor, Blaine (Brooke) Branaird, Nicole (Chuck) Billick, Tara Burckart, Chena (Scott) Deutmeyer, Dacia Schnuelle, Amanda (Joe, friend) Kolsrud, Austin (Jen) Kolsrud, and Zachary (Alexis, friend) Kolsrud.

     Her surviving siblings include Kathy Walz, Mary Ann Martin, Jerry Brincks, Jim Brincks, Jeanne Tieskotter, Tony Brincks, and Donnie Brincks. Her in-laws include Hank Best, Patty McCabe, Rosalind Henneberry, Geri and Mike Maloy, Bob and Vi Pankow, Inez and Charlie Nutt, Gladys Didesch, and Ester and Terry Cobry.

     She was preceded in death by her siblings Virgil Brincks, Gervase Brincks, and Betty Best, and in-laws Ron Walz, Harry Martin, Betty and John Welter, Jack McCabe, Al Didesch, and Mel Henneberry.

     Online condolences may be left at www.martinfunerals.com.