Priscilla Strohbehn

Priscilla Darlene Strohbehn, 94, passed away June 8, 2024, at Mill Pond Care Center in Ankeny, Iowa. Priscilla was born August 13, 1929, in Knoxville, Iowa, the eleventh child and firstborn daughter to Rev. Forest and Ida Moore. Her Methodist pastor father served many churches in southern Iowa which meant moving often, and making new friends in each community.

Priscilla stayed home from school after her high school freshman year to help the family. Following a bold conversation with her father, she was allowed to finish her final three years of high school, and graduated from Grinnell High School in 1948.

She attended Iowa State Teachers’ College for accelerated training. While teaching in a one-room schoolhouse in Tama County, she shared an apartment in Dysart with her brother, Norman, who also taught. Norman’s co-teacher arranged for Priscilla to meet a nice, single farmer from her church. Nine months after their blind date, Priscilla and Dale Strohbehn wed in 1950 at the Sheridan Methodist Church, with her brother, Raymond, officiating. Niece Carolyn came to live with the couple in 1951 until after she finished high school.

Priscilla and Dale farmed in Tama County until Dale’s retirement in 1989. The couple continued to live on the farm until 2010 when they moved to Newton, Iowa. Together they nurtured their six children. A Finnish exchange student, Lauri Karna, became another member of the family in 1972. Strohbehn’s farm became a center of family gatherings and reunions for sixty years. Cousins would often come to stay, overnight or even for the entire summer. Priscilla’s hospitality was remarkable and genuine. The farm was a magical place full of unconditional love, especially for their grandchildren.

Priscilla and Dale shared many travel adventures, traveling to forty-nine states, and twice to Europe, including visiting Lauri and his family in Finland. Faith and family have always remained at the center of her life, her priorities and her time. Priscilla was active in the Amity Presbyterian Church in rural Reinbeck, Iowa, in teaching and leadership roles.

Priscilla was preceded from this world by her husband, Dale in 2014; parents, Forest and Ida, her eleven brothers, Howard (Violet), Donald, Forrest Alleyne (Maxine), John Paul (Hertha), Robert, Harold (Octavia), Raymond (Marjorie), Edwin (Gwendolyn), Lester (Ruth) (Rosemary), Norman and sister, Lucille.

She is survived by her six adoring children: Janis, Rachel Edlund (Gregory), Robert (Teresa), Marcia McAdoo (Mark), Rebecca McKee (Kevin), Lora Deege (Scott), grandchildren: Erin Strohbehn, Kristin Baty (Steve), Mark Strohbehn (Aaron Jost), Kelsey Porter (Bradley), Jon Edlund (Krystal), Richard Edlund (Joan), Andrea Malonson (Stacy), Nick Bern, Nathan Deege, Tyler McAdoo, Spencer McAdoo (Abby) and Connor McAdoo; and ten great grandchildren. She is survived by brother-in-law Kenneth Strohbehn, and sisters-in-law Eleanor Sandbach, Marles Moore and Cheryl Strohbehn and a host of nieces, nephews, neighbors and the friends she met and loved everywhere she ever lived.

Memorial Services to celebrate Priscilla’s life will be held at 2:00 PM, on Friday, June 28, 2024, at Central Presbyterian Church, 3829 Grand Ave., Des Moines, IA 50312. Visitation with the family will be Thursday, June 27, 2024, from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the Ankeny Funeral Home & Crematory, 1510 West First Street, Ankeny, Iowa 50023. Private interment at a later date will be at Grant Township Cemetery near Reinbeck.

Memorials may be directed to a charity of your choosing in Priscilla’s name.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be left at www.ankenyfuneralhome.com for the Strohbehn family.