Mary “Jean” Portz, age 77, of Sheldon, passed away on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at her home in Sheldon, Iowa.
Her service will be at 10:30 am Saturday, May 31, 2014 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Sheldon, Iowa with Fr. Allan Reicks officiating. Burial will be in the St. Patrick Cemetery in Sheldon, Iowa. Visitation will be after 2:00 pm Friday, May 30, 2014 with the family present will be from 5 – 7 pm at the Vander Ploeg Funeral Home in Sheldon, Iowa. With a Christian Wake Service will be at 7:00 pm and a CDofA Rosary will be prayed at 7:30 pm.
Arrangements are under the care of the Vander Ploeg Funeral Home in Sheldon, Iowa.
Online memorial condolences may be sent to: vanderploegfunerals.com
Mary “Jean” Portz, the daughter of Andrew and Angela (Buckley) Ahlers was born on December 23, 1936 on the family farm near Remsen, Iowa. Jean attended St. Mary’s Catholic School in Remsen graduating in 1954. After high school she worked as a Switchboard Operator at Central Telephone Company in LeMars, Iowa. On May 25, 1959, she was united in marriage to Gerald J. Portz at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Remsen, Iowa. They made their home in Sheldon, Iowa and were blessed with 5 children, Carol, John, Janet, Nancy and Ann. They lived all their married life in Sheldon, where Gerald was employed for 36 years at Land-O-Lakes. For the first 17 years of her married life, Jean was a stay-at-home mother. When the children where all in school, she began her career working at Ben Franklin, then as a secretary for Sister Robertelle at ADTU. Jean loved going to work every day. She admired Sister Robertelle for her dedicated and successful work. After Sister Robertelle left Sheldon, Jean continued clerical work until her retirement in 1997 as a secretary for State Farm Agent, Phil Wilson. Jean passed away on Wednesday, May 28, 2014 at her home in Sheldon, Iowa reaching the age of 77 years, 5 months and 5 days.
In addition to working outside her home, Jean was a devout member of St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, and belonged to the Ladies Guild and Catholic Daughters of Americas. She enjoyed her Bridge Club for many years and was a member of the Merry-Go-Round Club and two Red Hatters groups. Most of all she enjoyed a lifetime friendship with her classmates and family vacations which consisted of annual fishing trips to Northern Minnesota and later trips to both the east and west coasts and places in between.
In addition to her husband of 55 years, Gerald; Jean is survived by their 5 children, Carol and (Jeff) Parry of Sheldon, IA; John and (Kelly) Portz of Bern, Switzerland; Janet and (Joel) Horn of Boyden, IA; Nancy and (Cody) Granstra of Sheldon, IA and Ann and (Ron) Jansen of Sheldon, IA; 12 beloved grandchildren, Shannon (Perry) McKechnie, Jessica (Nick) Schmalen, Benjamin Parry, Daniel and Alisha Horn, Megan, Mark and Michael Portz, James and Chris Granstra, Emily and Christopher Jansen; 3 great grandchildren, Gates and Jace McKechnie and Logan Schmalen; a sister and her husband, Janiece and Charles Bohlke of LeMars, IA; 3 brothers-in-law, Orville Portz of Remsen, IA; Ray Portz of Sheldon, IA and Michael Lovely of Sioux Falls, SD; a sister-in-law, Millie Portz of Sheldon, IA and many dear nieces and nephews and extended family and friends.
Jean is preceded in death by her parents, her in-laws, Chris and Rose Portz; a special aunt, Kathryn Buckley and 5 sisters, Joan Portz, Delores Portz, Patricia Lovely, Carol Ann Ahlers in infancy and Lois Ahlers, a brother-in-law, Donald Portz and a nephew, Steve Portz.
