Emma Blackburn

Emma Blackburn, 90, of Winterset and formerly of Adel, passed away, Tuesday, April 7, 2015 at West Bridge Care and Rehab in Winterset. A memorial gathering, where family will receive friends, will be held from 5 to 8 p.m., Friday, April 17, 2015 at Ochiltree Funeral Service in Winterset. Burial will take place at a later date in the Morrisburg Cemetery and memorials may be directed to the family. Online condolences may be left for the family at ochiltree.com. Emma Schlenker was born on July 11, 1924 to Johann and Resina (Wiedmer) Schlenker in Bessarabia Germany. She grew up in Germany and moved to the United States in 1961. Her marriage to Howard Nelson Blackburn took place on January 27, 1961. After marriage, she and Howard lived on their farm near Adel where she worked as a devoted farmwife and raised their son, Johannes who was born in 1962. As well as being a farmwife, Emma worked outside of the home at Homecare Services of Adel; a job she did well into her 80’s. Emma loved gardening and was a great cook. She was also very much into crafting and spent many hours with her dear friend, Bea Turner going many places together and they especially loved going to craft shows. Emma was very talented at sewing and crocheting. She also loved to spend time listening to ‘Talk Radio.” All this said, she was a devoted, wife, mother and grandmother who loved her family dearly and cherished any time spent with them, especially her great grandson, Austin. Emma is survived by her granddaughter, Heidi Conner and her husband, Jeremy and her great grandson, Austin Conner all of Adel. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Howard who died in 1975, her son, Johannes who died in 2007 and siblings, Harry Schlenker and Ella Lehmann.