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Thelma Kennedy
December 31, 1915 - August 26, 2010
Thelma Kennedy was born on a farm near the town
of Calvin in Cavalier County North Dakota. Calvin was a small town with only one church, the Presbyterian Church. Thelma
attended school at Byron, a consolidated school in another county, but graduated from the school in Calvin North Dakota. The fall after graduation, she attended The State Teacher’s College at Valley City, North Dakota. It was after graduating from Drake University in 1964 with a
bachelor’s degree in Education that Thelma began her teaching career.
Thelma was married in the Avoca Presbyterian
Church to Frederick Rohlfs in 1939. She and her husband were the parents of two boys, Fred and Edward. Her husband was ordained in the Avoca Presbyterian Church as an ordained minister. Frederick was killed in a car accident near Afton IA several years later. After his death, Thelma and the boys, made their home in Avoca. In those years, the Presbyterian Church did not have a minister, only a Sunday school. Thelma and the boys all attended the Sunday school at the Presbyterian Church. When the Avoca Congregational and Presbyterian churches merged in 1968, the new and present United Church of Avoca was constructed
on the former Presbyterian Church site.
Thelma, at that time, helped with the Sunday
school and joined various church groups. Betty Johnson and Thelma served as co
Superintendents of the Sunday school for several years. She has also helped,
with Bible School as a teacher and, until recently, has found time to help
in the kitchen for Bible school.
After her two boys were grown and on their own,
Thelma married Edward Kennedy from Avoca. He was the Manager of Iowa Power here in Avoca
for more than 30 years and served as the choir director at the Presbyterian Church for many years. At one time, he directed a complete men’s choir.
Thelma retired from teaching school in 1980. At that time she served one term on the church session, two terms as a deacon, was
secretary for the Women’s UCW, and served on the bazaar planning committee. She
attended Bible study groups, and served as a Trail Boss that kept the saddle bags going from member to member. She has worked many years helping with the bloodmobile. Thelma has served her church as an usher, a greeter
for worship, a member of the John Calvin adult fellowship group, served on the committee to appoint elders and deacons, and
has taken part in the church service when the minister was absent.
Thelma is now living in the Assisted Living Lodge
in Avoca and makes every attempt to attend church worship each Sunday.
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INA E. PEYTON November 14, 1909 - March 26, 2008
Ina was born on a farm outside Oakland IA. Her father died when she was only 4 and the family,
along with her two brothers, moved to Avoca soon afterward to live in a small house near our existing museum. Ina was
baptized in the Presbyterian Church in Avoca. She went to school here until she was 16 and her mother remarried moving
the children to Tennant where she attended school until she graduated in 1928. After graduation she returned to
Avoca and has called it home ever since.
In her early years in Avoca, Ina was very active in the Presbyterian Church. Her Grandmother,
Ella Zimmerman, saw that she and her two brothers were baptized and she attended Sunday School on a regular basis.
Ina made many friends and was very active in the church family.
After marrying Horace Peyton, she and her husband joined the Congregational Church in Avoca in 1942.
They were parents of one son, Duane. Ina served three times as a deaconess and was a member of the Ladies Aid.
She served as president for 2 years during the war. The church was active in collecting materials for the
war effort and Ina remembers long hours collecting massive amounts of newspapers that had to be bound and shipped to Omaha.
She also served as flower lady for funerals and served as the Treasurer of the church for several years.
The Congregational Church and the Presbyterian Church merged in 1968. Both of the old buildings
were torn down and the present United Church of Avoca now stands on the site of the old Presbyterian Church. In the
years that have followed, Ina has served her church in almost every way possible. She has been Vice-president of
UCW, served as a bazaar planning committee member, an usher, a greeter for worship, a member of John Calvin Adult Fellowship
group, a trail boss for the stewardship campaign, served on a committee that went door to door to ask for donations to help
build the new church, has assisted with the bloodmobile, a member of Morning Circle, a leader of the Prayer Circle, and
a member of the Friendly Visitors of our church.
Ina is a joy to be around. She has adapted to change a number of times over the years. She became
a widow at the age of 55 and learned to drive at that time so she could maintain her independence. She has been
faithful to the church throughout her life. It was her and several other ladies that kept the Congregational Church
alive during the difficult time of the war years.
Ina is a true historian in the Avoca area. She has a talent of knowing and remembering details about
our community that only a few ever master. Besides her church life, Ina has been very active in the community. She
has always loved to play cards, has belonged to many Avoca organizations, served as the Avoca city librarian for 38 years,
is a Past Matron of the Eastern Star, a member of the Avoca Historical Society, and is always willing to help a friend in
any way she can. It is difficult to measure Ina's contribution to the church. All of us, that know her, know she
is faithful in all areas of church life - Worship, Stewardship, Prayer, and Mission.
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