Arlene Appleby

ARLENE APPLEBY

Monticello

Arlene Appleby, 83, died Monday, Sept. 4, 2017, at the Monticello Nursing and Rehabilitation Center following a brief illness.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 8, at St. John Lutheran Church, rural Monticello, with interment in Oakwood Cemetery. The Rev. Reed Stockman will officiate at the services. Friends may call after 9 a.m. Friday at the church. Goettsch Funeral Home, Monticello, is caring for Arlene and her services. Thoughts, memories and condolences may be left at www.goettschonline.com.

Surviving are three children, Vicki Jo (Robert) Kukral, Nashua, and John Jr. (Buck) and Jay, both of Monticello; three grandchildren, Jennifer, Jo and Jacob; two great-grandchildren, Kasi and Alyrah; and two sisters, Jo Bader, Monticello, and Kay (Lynn) Kuhns, Center Junction.

She was preceded in death by her parents; an infant daughter and son; her husband, John Sr. in 1996; and her brother, Robert.

Arlene Ann Rickels was born Jan. 9, 1934, at John McDonald Hospital, Monticello, Iowa. She was the daughter of Willis and Theola (Darrow) Rickels. She was a graduate of the Monticello Community Schools. Arlene married John (Jack) Appleby on Nov. 28, 1952, in Iowa City, Iowa. They lived in Kansas, Nebraska, Florida and California while Jack was in the service. The couple returned to Monticello in 1972 after Jack retired from the U.S. Air Force. Arlene assisted Jack with his photography business, she worked at the Monticello Senior Home, and also baby-sat for the Steve and Susan Lambert family.

Alene loved to cook and sew, and at Christmas time she made cookies and candies for everyone she knew.