Alice Huisenga

Alice Ann Huisenga was born September 24, 1932, in Sac County, Iowa, the daughter of George and Emma (Hall) Irwin. A graduate of Sac City High School in the class of 1950, Alice built a life centered on family and the rhythms of rural Iowa.

On May 21, 1950, she married Merlin Huisenga. Together they farmed for many years, sharing the hard work and small satisfactions of country life until Merlin’s passing in 1980. Those years shaped Alice’s character — practical, loyal, and quietly generous — qualities that neighbors and friends relied upon through good seasons and lean ones.

Family and home were at the heart of Alice’s days. She took pride in her household and in the community ties that come from a lifetime spent in close-knit Midwestern towns. Friends remember Alice for the simple, steady presence she offered: the neighbor who could be counted on, the longtime member of local gatherings, and a familiar face at community events.

Alice’s life reflected the values of her generation — a strong work ethic, faithfulness to family, and commitment to place. Though she lived a life that may have looked ordinary to some, it was full of the ordinary acts that sustain families and communities: caring for loved ones, tending to daily tasks, and keeping alive the small traditions that mark a family’s story.

She passed away on Monday, March 10, 2014. Family and friends remember Alice with gratitude for the steadiness she brought to their lives and with affection for the ways she made home a welcoming place. Her memory endures in those who knew her, in the fields she helped tend, and in the quiet kindnesses that defined her life.