Elsie Dockendorff

Elsie Dockendorff, age 99, of Washington, Iowa, passed away Saturday, November 19, 2016 at the M.L. McCreedy Home in Washington. A memorial visitation will be held Wednesday, November 23, 2016 from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home in Washington. Family services will be held at Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Danville, Iowa at a later date. A memorial has been established for the Central Park Community Center in Washington. Online condolences may be sent for Elsie’s family through the web at www.jonesfh.com. Elsie Margaret Dockendorff was born April 2, 1917 in Clarinda, Iowa, the daughter of John Henry and Anna Elizabeth (Hamm) Stimson. She graduated from Clarinda High School and from Iowa State University in 1938, receiving her B.S. degree in vocational home economics education. Elsie was united in marriage to Max William Dockendorff on June 2, 1940 in Ames, Iowa. Max died in 1982 and Elsie later married Frank Kleese on April 2, 1991. Elsie taught school in Collins, Denmark and Danville, Iowa. She worked with her husband, Max, as co-owner and co-manager of the family business, Dockendorff Hybrid Seed Company. Elsie worked with youth over the years as a Sunday school teacher, as a Bible school teacher and, for 10 years, as a 4-H leader. After Max’s death in 1982, Elsie wintered in Arizona where she volunteered daily at an inner city Phoenix high school teaching English as a second language. She is survived by her daughter, Karen Murphy and husband Gary of Washington, Iowa; daughter, Janice Dockendorff and husband John Dowdall of Marion, Iowa; daughter-in-law Francis Jackson; five grandchildren, Derek (Dorrie) Murphy of Bettendorf; Janelle Menzia-Murphy (Jess Menzia) of Portland, OR; Matthew (Sylvia) Murphy of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Brian Boland (Wakako) of Albany, CA; Amy Hunzelman (Joel) of Waverly, IA; and ten great grandchildren Sam Murphy, Max Murphy, Ben Murphy, Elliot Menzia, Atticus Menzia, Samantha Murphy, Ellison Murphy, Mollie Hunzelman, Beckett Hunzelman and May Boland. Elsie was preceded in death by her parents; husband Max in 1982; husband Frank in 2001; daughter, Mary Margaret Kibler; son, Lyle Dockendorff; four brothers: Harold, Stanley, Fred and Jacob Stimson as well as one sister, LaVaun Johnston.

Elsie Dockendorff

April 2, 1917 - November 19, 2016