Ida M. Lensing

Ida Mary Vaske Lensing was born on October 21, 1904, in Bancroft Iowa, the second child of Joseph and Kate Froehle Vaske. On February 22, 1927, she was united in marriage to Alphonse Lensing. They farmed, worked, and retired in the Bancroft area. Ida found it very rewarding to tend and harvest her garden, and to share their apple crop with others. Her kitchen was a special place for her, baking, cooking, and trying new recipes. Everyone's favorites were her dinner rolls, sticky buns, and fried chicken. It was obvious to everyone who knew her that family was very important to her. Ida's other interests included quilting, crocheting, embroidering, and word find puzzles. Ida was a very competitive card player, especially enjoying bridge and 500. Those thankful for sharing their lives with her are her five children: Jean and Jerry Haas of Algona, Tom and Marilyn (Menke) Lensing of Whittemore, Vern and Diane (Welp) Lensing of Vista, California, Betty and Ken Frideres of Algona, Dick and Carol (Hachman) Lensing of Cedar Rapids. Also surviving are twenty-two grandchildren, fifty-five great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren. Also included in Ida's family a...[more]

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a Haas family foreign exchange student and her family from Sri Lanka. Ida was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Al, in 1969, her son Tom in 1993, and a grandson, Teddy, in 1958. Also preceding her in death were her sisters, Emma Lensing, Leone Wilhelmi, Cyrilla Seifert, and Rosella Vaske, and her brothers, Ed Vaske, Ambrose Vaske, John Vaske and Arthur Vaske. She is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Gertrude Vaske and Delores Vaske of Bancroft. In recent years, when asked what her secret to long life was, her answer was always, "I think God forgot me, and I worry a lot and pray a lot".