Myra Gurine Ahrens, 89, of Avon, Indiana passed away peacefully in
Christ on June 28, 2023 after a long illness. She was born on August 9, 1933,
the third of four children to parents Iver and Mabel Aafedt in Williston, North
Dakota. She and her siblings spent many of their summers helping their
mother and father in the wheat fields of western N. Dakota, where she
learned how to drive a pickup truck and helped her mom in the cookcar
preparing meals for the field hands during the hot harvest seasons.
In 1951 she enrolled at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa where she met
the love of her life and future husband, Karl, at a football game. She was the
marching band’s drum majorette and he was holding the First Down marker
(as he was injured at the time). The two of them began a 65 year relationship
that produced three sons, took them on many journeys around the Midwest
and occasional trips to Europe.
In her leisure time Myra enjoyed gardening, sewing, knitting, reading, canning fruits
and vegetables, as well as playing bridge and golf. She rarely missed a
sporting event involving her boys and later her grandchildren. She was also
very involved in her Lutheran Churches in Waukesha and Oregon, WI, and
Brownsburg, IN. One of her favorite undertakings was to read stories to
young children at the local library and to Sunday school kids. She had a
unique flair for drama when she read and the kids were often mesmerized by
her readings.
She actively supported many charities through the years, especially local
Special Olympics programs, the Korean War Memorial Fund and Sheltering
Wings Center for Women in Danville, In.
In addition to her parents and oldest brother Ardell (infant), she was
preceded in death by her still-born daughter Elizabeth Mary (1967) and
husband Karl (2017). She is survived by her older brother Ardean of
Williston, ND, and younger sister Ione (Ron) Reder of Houston, TX; her
three sons, Danny (Tammy) of Danville, IN, David (Karen) of Horseshoe
Bay, TX / Rockville, IN, and Jimmy (Diann) of Speedway, IN; grandchildren
David ‘Iver’ (Shiva) Ahrens, Jr, Marcus (Lauren) Ahrens, Michael (Ashley)
Ahrens, Jaclyn (David) Schmitz, Evan (Angela) Ahrens, Drew (Amanda)
March, and Samuel Ahrens; great-grandchildren Wyatt, Logan, Harper,
Lilith, Owen, Griffin, and Jordyn; brothers-in-law Robert and Ben (Kim)
Ahrens; sisters-in-law Lenore (Bob) Christensen and Judy Ahrens; and
numerous nephews and nieces throughout the country.
A memorial service will be held at Messiah Lutheran Church, 801 S.
Green St, Brownsburg, IN on Saturday, July 8th, 2023. An early greeting will
be followed by a Celebration of Life beginning at 1 o’clock (EST)* with
a luncheon to follow. A private interment will take place at West Ridge
Cemetery in Indianapolis. *(A live ZOOMcast of the service will stream for
out-of-town relatives & friends @ 1:00 pm EST—contact Danny for meeting ID).
In lieu of flowers, the family requests consideration for donations to
‘Sheltering Wings Center for Women’ in Danville, IN and/or ‘The Michael J.
Fox Foundation’ for Parkinson’s Research.
Thursday, January 1, 1970
West Ridge Park Cemetery
Saturday, July 8, 2023
1:00 - 1:00 pm (Eastern time)
Messiah Lutheran Church
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