Doreen Ahrenholz, 93, of Charles City, passed away Sunday, October 20, 2024, at the Floyd County Medical Center in Charles City.
A funeral service for Doreen Ahrenholz will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, October 25, 2024, at Bethany Alliance Church in Charles City. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. at Garden of Memories Cemetery in Waterloo, Iowa.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the family to be used towards children’s ministry and missions.
Doreen (Sage) Ahrenholz was born on November 14, 1930, to Alfred and Eleanor Ann (Nellie Brown) Sage in Des Moines, Iowa. She was the younger sister of Jane (Sage) Clippinger.
Doreen attended school in Des Moines, K to 11th grade. The family moved to Minneapolis where she completed her high school education at Roosevelt High School, Minneapolis, in 1949. Doreen graduated on a Friday and went to work on Monday at Minnesota Editorial Association as a secretary. When her family moved to Bettendorf, Iowa, she went to work for J I Case as a secretary. Many years later she used her typing skills to help students type their 11th grade term papers. She may hold the record for the most term papers typed in Charles City. She even earned a “Great typing, Dee,” from the teacher.
She married Marion Ahrenholz on July 28, 1951. They made their home in the Waterloo and Cedar Falls area. She again found secretarial work at Cohen Brothers and kept books for a time at the Oscar Ahrenholz and Sons Excavating, Inc. In time, the Lord gave them a daughter and a son, Linda and Paul.
When Marion passed away, Doreen moved her family to Charles City, Iowa, in 1968. She became joint owner of the Dee and J Ceramic Shoppe with her sister, Jane. When Jane retired, Doreen continued on with the business, still giving lessons while in her 80’s.
Doreen had many interests in and out of the home. She was a Pink Lady at the hospital, helped with Meals on Wheels, and was a faithful member of Bethany Alliance Church. She assisted in many areas at the church: playing the organ, singing in the choir, and coordinating funeral dinners to name a few. Her two primary passions at church, however, were the children ministries and ladies mission group. She taught in Sunday School, and VBS. She assisted with the Wednesday night children’s program for years. She participated in the ladies mission group for over 50 years.
Doreen enjoyed traveling. She was able to travel with Marion to Canada, Florida, and Mexico. In her later years, she took a voyage to the Caribbean Islands and made three trips to Europe. Eventually her international travels slowed down, and she enjoyed bus trips with her cousin. The bus trips inspired her to organize her own mystery trips with friends. She would make a plan, load up the van with friends, and take them for the day to some new location in Iowa.
She is survived by Linda and Steve Meneley, Paul and Deb Ahrenholz, her grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Marion Ahrenholz, her parents, Alfred and Nellie Sage, parents-in-law, Oscar and Jessie Ahrenholz, her sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Darwin Clippinger, brothers and sisters in-law, Andrew and Katherine Ahrenholz, Henry and Catherine Ahrenholz, Dr. Albert and Anne Nesbit, and Dr. Donald and Lynne Ahrenholz. She was also preceded in death by her daughter-in-law, Diana Ahrenholz, nieces Cheryl Schuelke, Karen Ahrenholz, and nephews Wayne Ahrenholz, Alan Ahrenholz, and Dr. Larry Nesbit.
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