Irene Eben, 100, of Avon

Irene Bernice Voigt was born on March 30, 1923, to Ralph and Katie (Fisher) Voigt, on their farm homesteaded by Irene's great grandparents, three miles east of Avon, South Dakota. She died on April 14, 2023, at the Good Samaritan Society in Tyndall, South Dakota, at the age of 100 years and 15 days.

The funeral service will be at 10:30 AM on Wednesday, April 19, at the First Baptist Church in Avon, South Dakota. Visitation with the family present will be from 5 – 7 PM on Tuesday, April 18, also at the church. The service will be livestreamed on the Avon First Baptist Church YouTube site. Peters Funeral Chapel in Avon is in charge of arrangements.

Irene grew up on the family farm and attended James School through 8 ^th grade. She attended one year at Avon High School. The next three years Irene lived with her grandmother in Tyndall, South Dakota, and graduated from Tyndall High School in 1941.

Irene studied at the Sacred Heart School of Nursing in Yankton, South Dakota. Due to the shortage of nurses during World War II, she began working without completing her nursing degree. She was employed as a practical nurse at Osceola Hospital in Sibley, Iowa, for three years, and several more months as a nurse for Dr. Greenfield in his upstairs office on Main Street in Avon. While working in Iowa, Irene met Andrew Eben, and they were married on February 15, 1946, in the First Baptist Church in Tyndall, South Dakota. They farmed in Iowa for four years, and in 1950 they moved to a farm east of Avon, less than a mile from where Irene was born. Together Andy and Irene farmed and raised their family of nine children.

Irene professed her faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior, and she and her mother were baptized together on Easter Sunday in 1933. Irene was a member of the First Baptist Church in Avon, where she served as a Sunday School teacher for both children and adults for 47 years. As the Children's Story Teller, she was still telling the Sunday morning Bible stories in her 95 ^th year and served in many other capacities in the church. She was a member of the Women's Auxiliary of the Gideons. She felt privileged to be able to take part in a mission trip to Haiti. In the last years of her life, Irene told Bible stories to the residents of the nursing home in Tyndall. One of the biggest joys of her life was sharing the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Irene was well-known both as a quilter and a poet. She sewed quilts for her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and donated handmade quilts to charitable causes. She wrote poems for many wedding receptions, bridal showers, birthday celebrations, and special church and community events. She also enjoyed reading, gardening, and cooking, and was never so happy as when she was feeding someone one of her home cooked meals, especially if it was Sunday dinner.

Irene is survived by seven children, Karen (Charles) Rabe of Plainville, Illinois; Sandra (Gary) DeGroot of Springfield; Ken (Marlis) Eben of Avon; Rosalie (Glenn) Schack of Owatonna, Minnesota; Bob (Shirley) Eben of Rapid City; Jim (Myrna) Eben of Ada, Michigan; Roxie (Mark) Pier of Crofton, Nebraska; daughter-in-law Kay Eben of Tyndall; also 31 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren with more to come.

Irene was preceded in death by her husband Andy in 2014, sons John in 1986 and Tony in 2022, and siblings Evelyn Rueb, Harlen "Bud" Voigt, Ruth Krull, and Edwin Voigt.