Alpha Mae Tamisiea

Alpha Mae Tamisiea, 85, passed away on Friday, February 24, 2017, in Spirit Lake, Iowa. The youngest of seven children, Alpha was born on Sept. 4, 1931, in Earlville, Iowa, to Albert T. and Gertrude L. Fear. She grew up in Manchester, Iowa. After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Nebraska School of Nursing in Omaha, where she received her RN degree. On Oct. 11, 1952, Alpha married Dr. Jerry X Tamisiea shortly after he received a telegram ordering him to report immediately to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Chicago. 'He decided he couldn't live without me,' Alpha once said, so they were quickly married in the chapel at Methodist Hospital, where they both worked and had met. The newlyweds then moved to California, where Jerry served at the China Lake Naval Station and aboard the USS General A.E. Anderson in the Pacific. Throughout the course of their 62-year marriage, Jerry and Alpha were inseparable. They returned to Omaha in 1954 and raised their family there. When Jerry opened his own pathology lab in Milford, Iowa, in 1971, Alpha worked right by his side as his histology technician and bookkeeper until they retired together twenty years later in 1991. In addition to her husband, Alpha loved her family, crossword puzzles, playing bridge, dogs, football, classical music and opera, and traveling with Jerry to Germany, Canada, Alaska, New England, and across the Western United States. Alpha was preceded in death by her husband, Jerry, in 2015. She is survived by her three children-Leslie (Doug) Krecklow, Bruce (LuAnn) Tamisiea, and Elise Bishop--seven grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren. No funeral services are planned. Alpha's family would like to extend its gratitude to the staff of Lakes Regional Healthcare for their compassion and support during Alpha's final days.

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