Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 15, at Williams Dingmann Family Funeral Home in Sauk Rapids for Clara F. Ireland, age 92, who passed away June 5, 2022, at Ridgeview Place in Sauk Rapids. Chaplain Lisa Lynott-Carroll will officiate and burial will be at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Sauk Rapids. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, June 14, and one hour prior to the services Wednesday at the funeral home in Sauk Rapids.
Clara was born March 22, 1930, in Peoria, Illinois, to Henry and Frances (Schnelle) Jones. She married Glenn Ireland Jan. 18, 1948, in Bird Island. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Sauk Rapids.
Clara is free. She is free to join the love of her life, her partner, her husband Glenn, or her “Glennie” as she would have said. She is home and she is smiling and laughing, and her blue eyes are sparkling again. Our mother’s legacy was love. She was devoted to our father, and her family. She saw these things as her life’s mission. She was unselfish. She was our family’s confidant, the one who always listened. She listened with her heart and she gave advise sparingly. She appreciated simple things like her lilac bush, her crab apple tree, a clean home, crocheting and tatting, maple nut ice cream, and her walks. She never complained – not even in her battle through dementia. She was courageous. She would ask us not to grieve but to love each other more; to cherish our memories and not take these things for granted. Lastly, I would say Clara made the best chocolate chip cookies, and while she said the recipe came off the bag, I know her secret ingredient was love.
Survivors include her daughters and sons, Barb (Ted) Plantenberg of St. Cloud, Greg (Teri) of Rice, Michael (Debbie) of Stillwater, Sandy of Sauk Rapids, and Brad (Cicely) of Minneapolis; 11 grandchildren and 17 great- grandchildren. Clara was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Glenn on Dec. 22, 2021; brothers, Darrell, Ivan, and Blueford Jones, and George Misner; sister, Irene Kalkbrenner; and granddaughters, Tricia Plantenberg and Jennifer Plantenberg Evans.
Obituary, guest book and video tribute available online www.williamsdingmann.com
R-23-1B
