Rita E. Efta
Visitation and Prayers
Wednesday, January 17, 2018 5 PM - 7 PM
Rosary at 7 PM
Ohde Twit Funeral Home, Carroll, Iowa
Mass of Christian Burial
Thursday, January 18, 2018 ~ 10:30 AM
St. Mary’s Church
Auburn, Iowa
Celebrant
Reverend Lynn Bruch
Lector
Joan Wiederhold
Music and Mass Participants
Members of St. Mary’s Parish
Casket Bearers
Brad Strutzenburg Steve Christensen Jim Marso
Don Wiederhold Jerry Blum Denis Schirck
Interment
St. Mary’s Cemetery
Auburn, Iowa
Rita E., daughter of Mike and Susan (Kline) Marso, was born May 15, 1921, in Bode, Iowa. She grew up in Bode and graduated from high school there.
During World War II, Rita worked as a welder in the shipyard at Seattle, Washington. Rita was united in marriage with Clement John Efta, in Seattle, Washington, on April 27, 1945. A son Ambrose was born to this union. The family made their home in Grant City, Iowa near Auburn. Clem and Rita homesteaded their property and built their own home. Rita was a self-taught taxidermist, working on everything from frogs to elk. A favorite project was a pair of skunk mittens she made for her son’s friend. She enjoyed traveling to Europe and China, and rode in RAGBRAI 3, 4, 5 and 6. Rita loved music and played the accordion, mandolin and harmonica. Her love for the wildlife was evidenced in her bluebird trail she tended for 30 years, as well as her holding of a federal permit to tag migratory foul and Monarch butterflies. In 2011, Rita and Clem received a Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding service to bluebirds, in recognition of their dedicated service to Iowa’s natural resources.
In 2010, Rita and Clem became residents of St. Anthony Nursing Home in Carroll, Iowa. She died there on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. She was 96 years of age.
Rita is survived by her son Ambrose Efta and wife Rena of Locust Grove, Virginia; a grandson and wife; a great-granddaughter; two sisters-in-law Genevieve and Margaret; and by many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Clem Efta in November of 2017; a sister Celestine; three brothers: Clarence, Richard and Alfred; three brothers-in-law: Lawrence, Anthony, and Francis; and a sister-in-law Marcella.
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