Obituary of Clarence Elgersma

Clarence C. Elgersma, the son of Harry N. and Tena (Dood) Elgersma was born on July 5, 1922 on a farm northwest of Hartley. He was the youngest of four children. Clarence attended country school, and was a typical farm boy in the 1930’s. As a young man he started farming with his dad. He also began his lifelong passion of “tinkering” in the shop. Along with farming during the 1940’s, he ran his own shop—“Click’s Garage”. On October 20, 1958 he married Alvina Kollasch. The couple farmed together, and raised their three children: Tom, Don and Shirley. Clarence loved farming with his family. He was very proud that his sons, daughter, and son-in-law were all involved in farming. Clarence and Alvina moved into Hartley in 1991. He continued to help with the farming and milking until he was nearly 80. In February of 2005, Clarence moved to Memorial Community Health Center as his symptoms of Alzheimer’s progressed. He was a kind-hearted man toward his family, friends and acquaintances. He was a member of the Hartley Christian Reformed Church, and later became a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Hartley. Left to cherish his memory is his wife of nearly 50 years, Alvina, two sons and their families: Tom and Margaret Elgersma and their daughter Meredith, Don and Helen Elgersma and their children Emily and Daniel all of rural Sanborn; a daughter Shirley and Tony Schroeder and sons Andy, Ryan, Scott and Nick of rural LeMars; one sister Nelly Koehnecke of Hartley, one brother Ervin and Virginia Elgersma of Lincoln, CA; In-laws: Cecelia Kollasch of Spirit Lake, IA, Sr. Mary Pierre of Dubuque, IA, and Art and Lou Kollasch of York, PA; many nieces, nephews and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister and her husband, Henrietta and Russell Benz, and In-laws: E.P. Koehnecke, Mary and Bill Thompson and Bernard Kollasch.