Clementine Alborn

Clementine "JoeAnn" Alborn, daughter of Ed Sidwell and Myrtle Acre, was born September 21, 1925 in Fithian, Illinois. She passed away Monday, August 6, 2012 at Iowa Methodist Medical Center at the age of 86. At 16 she took a train to Riverside, California where she started working at Marchfield Airbase. JoeAnn repaired engines on B-29s as well as B-24s. She met Henry Alborn who was also in the Army Air Force and the two were married September 9, 1944. Henry received an honorable discharge in 1946 and the couple moved to Iowa where they started farming around the Dawson and Perry area. Clementine and Henry were blessed with 2 children: Eileen and David. In 1971 they moved to Henry's family farm just north of Yale, Iowa. Farming was always important to Clementine. Picking corn, filling cribs, farrowed 50 sows, finished out the pigs for market, and raised poultry. She also enjoyed gardening, woodworking, building bird houses, and repairing/painting buildings. Clementine loved taking her grandchildren fishing at Lake Okoboji and traveling the states. They lovingly called her "Grandsy". She made sure all the critters had food; even squirrels, stray cats and dogs. In the later years Clementine enjoyed making quilts in the winter, reading books, and watching the birds. She will be dearly missed by her daughter Eileen (Jack) Bonker of Jamaica; 4 grandchildren: Aaron Bonker (Kaly) of Jamaica, Darrell Bonker (Amanda Doran) of Yale, JoeAnn Watlington (John) of Haworth, OK, and Kristi Kastner (James) of Bayard; son David of Perry and granddaughter Kandy Putz (Denny) of Muscoda, WI; 3 great-grandchildren: John Henry Bonker, Derrik Putz, and Lukas Putz; special nephew Dean Alborn (Gloria) of Moline, Illinois; and many more family and friends. JoeAnn is preceded in death by her parents Ed and Myrtle Sidwell; husband Henry Alborn Sr. (2004); grandson Henry John Alborn(1998), great-grandson Sean Watlington(2010), and brothers: Lester Smith and Leslie Sidwell. www.hastingsfh.com