About the Couple
John & Blanche Ahrens were married Nov. 25, 1937. They were first encountered in 1981 in the Iowa/Illinois Community. The received the Ham & Eggs Award in 1998. Their UME status is "retired." $2,000 in total tributes have been given in their honor. John passed away in 2002 and Blanche in 2009.
Involvement in United Marriage Encounter
Ham & Eggs Award Recipients, 1998
Blanche & John Ahrens Obituary
Blanche Irene Ahrens, 90, of Tipton, Iowa, died Friday, March 6, 2009, at Clarissa C. Cook Hospice House, Bettendorf, due to congestive heart failure.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband John Ahrens; son James Ahrens; two brothers, Floyd Evans and Howard Evans; and great-granddaughter, Andrine Marburger.
She was born on July 21, 1918, in Owatonna, Minn., daughter of George Francis Evans and Stella Mary Thompson. She married John Louis Ahrens on Nov. 25, 1937, in Nashua, Iowa. John died Tuesday Jan. 1, 2002, at Cedar Manor Nursing Home in Tipton due to complications of Parkinson disease.
Blanche was a quality control employee for Pioneer Seeds for 30-plus years. She went to Rock Island High School and was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church of Tipton, Iowa.
Blanche was an active volunteer in United Marriage Encounter, Genesis Hospice, Cedar Manor, Bennett and Tipton Lions, Volunteer Services of Cedar County, Cedar County Piece Makers Quilting Club and the Advisory Council of the Heritage Area Agency on Aging. She was the Volunteer of the Year for Hospice, received the Governor’s Volunteer Award, the State of Iowa Shining Star Award, the 9 Who Care Award and was recognized as a Resident Advocate Volunteer from Heritage Area Agency on Aging. She also attained her First Degree in the USUT Method of Natural Healings.
He was a farmer. He retired from Catepillar in Mount Joy, Ill. after 25 years. He was a 1936 graduate of Tipton High School. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church; Bennett Lions; worked with Cedar County and Genesis VNA Hospice; and volunteered services for Cedar County United Marriage Encounter. Survivors include his wife; daughters, Kathy Triebe and husband Bill of Somerset, Penn. and Bonnie Marburger and husband Duane of Bloomfield; a son, James Ahrens and wife Elizabeth of West Branch; three sisters, Alice Neece of Davenport, Florence Castel of East Moline, Ill. and Frances Garnica of Davenport; nine grandchildren; and a great-grandson. He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Ernest and Wilbur; three sisters, Hilda, Irene and Bernadine; and a great-granddaughter, Andrine.