Rita E. Efta

Rita E. Efta

Visitation and Prayers

Wednesday, January 17, 2018   5 PM - 7 PM

Rosary at 7 PM

Ohde Twit Funeral Home, Carroll, Iowa

Mass of Christian Burial

Thursday, January 18, 2018 ~ 10:30 AM

St. Mary’s Church

Auburn, Iowa

Celebrant

Reverend Lynn Bruch

Lector

Joan Wiederhold

Music and Mass Participants

Members of St. Mary’s Parish

Casket Bearers

Brad Strutzenburg     Steve Christensen     Jim Marso    

Don Wiederhold     Jerry Blum     Denis Schirck    

Interment

St. Mary’s Cemetery

Auburn, Iowa

   Rita E., daughter of Mike and Susan (Kline) Marso, was born May 15, 1921, in Bode, Iowa.  She grew up in Bode and graduated from high school there.

   During World War II, Rita worked as a welder in the shipyard at Seattle, Washington.  Rita was united in marriage with Clement John Efta, in Seattle, Washington, on April 27, 1945. A son Ambrose was born to this union. The family made their home in Grant City, Iowa near Auburn. Clem and Rita homesteaded their property and built their own home. Rita was a self-taught taxidermist, working on everything from frogs to elk. A favorite project was a pair of skunk mittens she made for her son’s friend. She enjoyed traveling to Europe and China, and rode in RAGBRAI 3, 4, 5 and 6. Rita loved music and played the accordion, mandolin and harmonica. Her love for the wildlife was evidenced in her bluebird trail she tended for 30 years, as well as her holding of a federal permit to tag migratory foul and Monarch butterflies. In 2011, Rita and Clem received a Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding service to bluebirds, in recognition of their dedicated service to Iowa’s natural resources.

   In 2010, Rita and Clem became residents of St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll, Iowa.  She died there on Tuesday, January 16, 2018.  She was 96 years of age.

       Rita is survived by her son Ambrose Efta and wife Rena of Locust Grove, Virginia; a grandson and wife; a great-granddaughter; two sisters-in-law Genevieve and Margaret; and by many nieces and nephews.

   She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Clem Efta in November of 2017; a sister Celestine; three brothers: Clarence, Richard and Alfred; three brothers-in-law: Lawrence, Anthony, and Francis; and a sister-in-law Marcella.