Loretta Leone Elsie Langner Kendall

     All thanks and praise to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the life of Loretta Leone Elsie Langner Kendall who went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on February 3, 2023, at Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, SD.

     Loretta was born October 8, 1934, to Glen Fahr and Martha Hinkeldey Fahr in Alta, Iowa. She was baptized into the Christian faith at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Hanover, Iowa. The church and school at Hanover would serve as the basis for her Christian faith throughout the life she lived.  Loretta attended St. John’s Lutheran Parochial School in Hanover from 1^st through 8^th grade. She received her high school education in the Alta Community School district. After graduation she moved to Des Moines and began working at Bankers Life Insurance. While working for them, Loretta attended AIB business school at nights and on weekends for three semesters and studied bookkeeping and accounting.

     At the age of 17, Loretta was introduced by a friend of hers to Wayne Langner of Storm Lake, Iowa. Wayne and Loretta were married two years later on December 20, 1953. Wayne was serving in the US Army at the time, so their first homes were in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, and later in Sheboygan, WI on the army bases. Upon Wayne’s honorable discharge in 1954, they moved back to Wayne’s family home in Storm Lake where they would begin their farming career. Wayne and Loretta farmed in the Storm Lake and Alta area until March of 1959 when they moved to a farm northeast of Dickens, Iowa. The two of them worked hard during those years, and Loretta could be seen working ground in the spring while Wayne planted the crop.  In the fall, Wayne would run the harvesting equipment while Loretta hauled in grain and put it in the cribs. They were able to purchase the farm they first lived on in the spring of 1973. Two weeks later, on April 4, 1973, Wayne was killed in a car-train accident on the Terril blacktop just east of Dickens. Loretta was now a widow with three children at home, ages 17, 16, and 14.

     In 1978 Loretta built a home in Spencer, Iowa and moved into town. She worked at the Greer Law Office during income tax season. Soon after moving to Spencer, Loretta was introduced to Jack Kendall by a friend of hers.  Their courtship went on for a number of years before Jack and Loretta were married on August 29, 1986. After their marriage, Jack and Loretta moved to Mesa, AZ while Jack was still working. Upon his retirement, they moved back to Loretta’s home in Spencer. They wintered in Arizona for several years after that. Jack and Loretta enjoyed many years of traveling the country together enjoying trips to Hawaii, New England, Washington, DC, and Niagara Falls. They were often seen attending baseball, football, softball, and basketball games of either Loretta’s grandchildren in Terril or Jack’s grandchildren in Spencer.  Their marriage lasted until the Lord called Jack to his eternal home on December 16, 2004.

     Loretta enjoyed knitting and quilting and spent many hours at it. If you stopped in to see her, she was often sitting at the sewing machine making a new quilt. She gave each of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren a quilt that she had made for them.

     Loretta and Wayne joined First English Lutheran Church when they moved to the area in 1959, and she has been an active member at First English since that time. She served as the church treasurer for a number of years, in addition to serving on other committees at the church. She was a Sunday School teacher when her children were going through the elementary grades and regularly attended church and the adult bible study on Sunday mornings.  

     Throughout all the trials and hardships in her life, she never wavered in trusting her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to give her the strength to endure and move on with life. She shared that faith with her children and implanted that in their hearts as well.

     Loretta is survived by her three children, Leonard (Marlena) Langner of Spencer, Iowa, Dale (Sandy) Langner of Dickens, Iowa, Sharon (Dr. Andrew) Andresen of Palm Coast, FL; step-daughters, Karen (David) Kendall-Sperry of Columbus, OH, Heidi (Monte) Newgaard of Spencer, Iowa and Becky (Gary) Koenig of Spencer, Iowa; sisters Darlene Caboth of Alta, IA and Ardiss (Robert) Galvin of Aurelia, IA; brother, Loren (Betty) Fahr of Alta, IA; sister-in-law, Julie Fahr of Fremont, NE;  11 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends.

     Loretta was preceded in death by her two husbands, Wayne Langner and Jack Kendall, parents Martha Fahr and Glen Fahr, stepfather Floyd Fahr, brother Rev. Duane Fahr, brother-in-law Milton Caboth, and sister-in-law Kathy Fahr.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to First English Lutheran Church, First English Lutheran Preschool, Iowa Great Lakes Lutheran School or Camp Okoboji.

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