Rena Fern Kelsey Boler

Country school was close, but Rena later walked to high school in Granada after helping milk cows and feeding her 4-H pig, which she took to the state fair.

Rena graduated from Granada in 1931. She married Howard Boler on Sept. 3, 1933, at the Baptist parsonage in Truman and headed for northern Minnesota, but only got to the Minnesota State Fair, which started an annual trip to St. Paul.

She joined the Community Baptist Church in 1937 and was an active member where she taught Sunday School, Bible School and was busy in the Esther Davis Circle.

Rena served as Nashville Township Extension Service Leader and was active in Nurse’s Auxiliary and Nashville Mother’s Club. Her more recent “job” was serving as a volunteer at the Truman Historical Museum.

She and Howard enjoyed spending their winters in Bellaire Bluffs, Fla., where she spent her free time doing award winning arts and crafts. Her seven grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren were the beneficiaries of her exquisite needlework and quilt making. Her talent with a needle earned blue ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair and in her ’90s at the Martin County Fair.

In 1978, Rena represented Minnesota as “Mother of the Year” and her hand-crafted miniature living room won her a week long trip to New York City. Her love of family and church, along with her talent for cooking, baking, crafting and needlework all contributed to this honor.

With son Bob and son-in-law Richard, both in the U.S. Air Force, Rena toured Alaska, Cuba, Europe, Okinawa, Japan and most of the USA and Canada. Rena’s interest in genealogy led her to research and be accepted as a 12th-generation member of the Minnesota Mayflower Descendants Society. She was also proud of being chosen co-grand marshall in the 2004 Truman Days parade.

Rena passed away Sunday, Dec. 20, 2015, at the Lutz Wing of the Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont.

Survivors include her children, Gerald Boler of Truman, Robert (Karen) Boler of Coos Bay, Ore., Bonnie (Richard) Lampright of Niceville, Fla.; daughter-in-law, Ellen Boler of Fountain Inn, S.C.; stepsister, Agnes Carlson of Fairmont; stepbrother, Marion (Jane) Roberts of Mason City, Iowa; seven grandchildren, Kent, Richard, Michael, Brad, Gregory, Brian, and Sheri; and 10 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Howard; son, Harold; brother, James and his wife, Luverne of Truman; and her parents of Granada.

There will be a visitation 2-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26, at Zaharia Family Funeral Home in Truman. A service will be held next June at the Nashville Township Cemetery.