Clement Efta

   Mass of the Christian Burial for Clement Efta, age 97, of Auburn, will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, at St. Mary's Church in Auburn with burial in St. Mary's Cemetery near Auburn. Clem's family will receive friends from 5 PM to 7 PM on Monday, November 6, 2017, at Ohde Twit Funeral Home in Carroll. Visitation will resume at 9:30 AM on Tuesday at the church.

   Clement John, son of Frank and Margaret (Ponke) Efta, was born January 23, 1920, near Wibaux, Montana. He grew up at Wibaux and attended school through the eighth grade. Clem then worked as a ranch hand.

   During World War II, Clem served in the U.S. Army first in artillery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and then as a cook in a boat transportation unit in the Aleutian Islands.

   Just before receiving honorable discharge, Clem was united in marriage with Rita Marso in Seattle, Washington on April 27, 1945. A son Ambrose was born to this couple. The family made their home in Grant City, Iowa near Auburn. Clem and Rita homesteaded their property and built their own home. Clem was a heavy-duty mechanic with road construction companies in Sioux City, Omaha and Missouri Valley.

   Clem was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Auburn. Even though his formal education was limited, Clem was a sponge for learning and reading anything informative. He built a Quonset hut on the acreage where he worked on many of his talents including: woodwork, milling wood, building Iowa clocks, and making lapidary bolo ties. His love for the outdoors was evidenced in his time spent fishing, hunting and tending their vegetable garden. A prankster at heart, he could also play the fiddle and banjo.

  In 2010, Clem and Rita became residents of the St. Anthony Nursing Home Carroll, Iowa, where he passed away on Friday, November 3, 2017, after suffering a stroke a few days before. He was 97 years of age.

   Clem is survived by his wife Rita Efta of Auburn; a son Ambrose Efta and wife Rena of Locust Grove, Virginia; a grandson Mikel Hubbel and wife Amy of Virginia; a great-granddaughter Caitlin Hubbel; two sisters Genevieve and Margaret; and by many nieces and nephews.

   He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers: Lawrence, Anthony, and Francis; and a sister Marcella.