Sarah Jane was born on June 6, 1932, in Maynard, IA to John and Dorothy (Payne) Sidler. Her father worked for the railroad, so the family lived in various locations throughout northeast Iowa and Minnesota as she grew up. She graduated from South High School in Minneapolis in 1949, and shortly thereafter was told the family would be moving to Ocheyedan, Iowa. Sally was not eager to move again, nor to such a small town after being in the Twin Cities and proclaimed, “I am not going to marry a farmer.” On September 29, 1950, four months after their first date, she married local Ocheyedan farmer, Merle Pedley, at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, IA. She spent 40 years as a farm wife and finally got to move back to “the city” when she and Merle moved into Ocheyedan after his retirement in 1991.
Over a period of 13 years, the couple welcomed five sons and adopted one daughter into their home. Sally stayed at home to care for the children who remember her as a loving mother who knew all their favorite (and not so favorite) foods and took excellent care of them. Her children and grandchildren still try to recreate her overnight rolls, chocolate chip cookies, rum balls, red Christmas cake and scotcheroos. In addition to sewing many of the clothes her children wore, Sally took on sewing and mending jobs for friends and neighbors. She also co-taught Pooh Corner, a pre-school operated by one of her best friends, Karen Hellinga, for 16 years.
Sally was a friend and honorary grandmother to many. She enjoyed sewing, needlepoint, cross stitch, playing cards, and going out to eat with her husband and friends. In addition to belonging to a sewing club and card club, Sally and Merle used to square dance as members of the Worthington Turkey Trotters. She was an active member of the Ocheyedan United Methodist Church over the years, participating in UMW, serving as a Sunday School teacher and administrator, attending Bible study and singing in the choir and with a quartet. She bowled for 40 years in Lake Park, May City and then in Sibley. Her children and grandchildren remember Sally challenging herself watching Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune – where she often solved the puzzle using the clue with no or only one letter visible. She also looked forward to doing the crossword and solving the Jumble in the daily newspaper, and spent many hours playing Scrabble with grandkids or on the computer.
Sally is survived by her sons Joe Pedley of Lake Park, IA; Jerry (Donna) Pedley of Sanford, NC; Kevin (Becky) Pedley of Sanford, NC; Keith (Barb) Pedley of Ocheyedan, IA; Ryan (Janet) Pedley of Ocheyedan, IA; daughter Rhonda (Bevin) Walinga of Weston, NE; brother Laverne (Glenda) Sidler of Waterloo, IA. Sally’s grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren include Megan (husband Mike, and Zoey) Pedley Browden; Jeremy (wife Kandice, Jacob, Justin and Jordan) Pedley, Ashley [husband Alex, Ainsley and Aurora] Melpolder, Chasity Raif and Erika [Dixie] Munger) Pedley; Jennifer (Grant and Will) Potratz; Travis (wife Tina, Austin, Alyson, Cameron, Connor) Pedley; Kirk (wife Jamie, Morgan and Kadin) Pedley; Angie (husband Brian, and Brady) Klaassen; David (wife Kristin, Paige, Cole, Hallie, Aubree) Pedley; Kyle (wife Dea, Jaxon and Karter) Pedley; Tessa (husband Ryan, Beau, Jordyn and Jaelyn) Kapperman; Michael and Nathan Patten.
She is preceded in death by her husband Merle Pedley; parents, John and Dorothy Sidler (Payne); sister, Laura Mae (John) Copeland (Sidler); brothers, Donald (Dorothy) Sidler, Edward Sidler and Jim (Carmen) Sidler.
[S5] Find A Grave, → Memorial ID 186044929.
1932 - 2017 (85 years)
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