Elmer Adrian Dykstra

Elmer Adrian Dykstra, the son of Adrian 'Ed' and Dorothy Dykstra, was born March 12, 1929 in Dalton, SD. They moved to a farm northwest of Everly in 1934, where he received his education at Waterford Country School and graduated from Everly High School in 1946. His devotion to the Everly Cattlefeeder sports teams spanned several decades; he was a dedicated, loyal and vocal fan. Elmer married Gloria Snyder on October 1, 1950 in Hartley, Iowa. He entered the military and served with the U.S. Army in the supply depot in Baumholder, Germany from 1951 until his honorable discharge in 1953. Elmer and Gloria returned to farm near Everly, Iowa, where they enjoyed many years raising their family. They retired to Spencer in 1993, living in the house they built on the Municipal Golf Course; giving Elmer the opportunity to pursue his favorite pastime. He especially enjoyed his time on the links with his granddaughter, Rachel. He was a longtime active member of the First Reformed Church in Everly until moving to Spencer and joining Hope Reformed Church. He was a 4-H leader for many years; was a dedicated member of the Lions Club and the Spencer Y Men's. He was a lifelong cattle feeder and founding member of the Clay County Cattlemen. He also served as a board member for the Osceola Rural Water Board, the Minnesota Soybean Processors, and the Fostoria Cooperative Elevator. He passed away at St. Luke Lutheran Home in Spencer, Iowa on Friday, September 20, 2013 at the age of 84. Elmer was preceded in death by his parents; an infant daughter, Rebecca; one brother, Lester; his sister and brother-in-law, Dorothy and Ed Galm; and sisters-in-law, Pat and Norma Dykstra. Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 63 years, Gloria; two sons: Randy and Rodney both of Everly; one daughter, Sandi Schmidt and her husband, Kirby of Spencer; a granddaughter, Rachel Hauck and her husband, Tom of Marion, IA; his brother, Vernon Dykstra of Okoboji, IA; his sister, Betty Bonker and her husband, Leonard of Harlingen, TX; his sister-in-law, Barb Dykstra of Everly, IA; other relatives and many friends. And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker.' So God made a farmer. God said, 'I need somebody willing to get up before dawn, milk cows, work all day in the fields, milk cows again, eat supper and then go to town and stay past midnight at a meeting of the school board.' So God made a farmer. 'I need somebody with arms strong enough to rustle a calf and yet gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild. Somebody to call hogs, tame cantankerous machinery, come home hungry, have to wait lunch until his wife's done feeding visiting ladies and tell the ladies to be sure and come back real soon -- and mean it.' So God made a farmer. God said, 'I need somebody willing to sit up all night with a newborn colt. And watch it die. Then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' I need somebody who can shape an ax handle from a persimmon sprout, shoe a horse with a hunk of car tire, who can make harness out of haywire, feed sacks and shoe scraps. And who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, then, pain'n from 'tractor back,' put in another seventy-two hours.' So God made a farmer. God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the hay in ahead of the rain clouds and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor's place. So God made a farmer. God said, 'I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs and tend the pink-combed pullets, who will stop his mower for an hour to splint the broken leg of a meadow lark. It had to be somebody who'd plow deep and straight and not cut corners. Somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week's work with a five-mile drive to church. 'Somebody who'd bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says he wants to spend his life 'doing what dad does.'' So God made a farmer. --Paul Harvey

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