Joella Sowers Obituary (1922

Joella Sowers, one of three daughters of Frankie Alice (Stone) and Sidney Joseph Alston, was born at Carson, Iowa on October 11, 1922. Joella grew up in Carson where she graduated from high school in 1940. She worked for Western Union in Omaha and accepted a transfer to Chicago. Joella returned to Carson and married Lynn Ellsworth Sowers at Topeka, Kansas on November 9, 1946. They made their home in Council Bluffs, Iowa and were blessed with their two children, Michael and Vickie. The family moved to Los Angeles, California and Lynn worked as a large crane operator while Joella enjoyed being a homemaker. The family returned to Carson where Joella worked as a teller for the Carson Branch Office of the Council Bluffs Savings Bank. In 1960, Lynn began Sowers Fertilizer and in 1970 purchased the Macedonia Elevator with Joella as the bookkeeper and office manager. They sold the elevator business in 1980 and in 1986 retired from the fertilizer business as well. Joella was a 50 year member of the Carson American Legion Auxiliary and a lifelong member of the Carson Presbyterian Church. She enjoyed crossword puzzles, the Chicago Cubs and Atlanta Braves Baseball and was an avid reader. Joella and Lynn had been married 57 years at the time of Lynn's death on January 13, 2004. Joella continued to live in their home until September 2006 when she moved to the Oakland Manor in Oakland, Iowa. Joella passed away at the Manor on April 17, 2008 at the age of 85 years, 6 months, and 6 days. Joella was preceded in death by her parents; husband Lynn; sisters, Ruth French and husband Reid and Jean Jaworski and husband Ted. She is survived by her son, Michael Sowers and his wife Sandi of Carson; daughter, Vickie McDaniel and her husband Don of Pflugerville, Texas; grandchildren Jeffrey Sowers and his wife Rhonda of Carson, Justine Crouse and her husband Andrew and their twin children, Mason and Aspen of Hastings, Iowa, Jeffery McDaniel and his wife Shelley and their children Jesse, Stacy and Jennifer, and Jeremy McDaniel and his wife Melanie and their children Austin, Colton, and Reaghan, all of Council Bluffs; nieces and nephews; other relatives and friends. A memorial fund has been established.