In Memory of Alberta Kautsch

Alberta Doerr Kautsch was called to her Heavenly home at the age of 99, on December 5, 2023, in Mason City, Iowa.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m., with a visitation held one hour prior from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., on Monday, December 11, 2023, at the St. Paul Lutheran Church of Ida Grove, Iowa. Rev. Neil Wehmas will officiate. Committal Services will follow in the Ida Grove Cemetery of Ida Grove, Iowa.

The Christensen-Van Houten Funeral Home of Ida Grove, Iowa, is entrusted with the arrangements. Online condolences may be offered at christensenvanhouten.com.

Alberta was born April 24, 1924, to John J and Magdalena (Rohn) Doerr, in Lovell, Wyoming. She attended school in Lovell, and upon completion of high school, she attended Denver Business College in Colorado. She returned to Lovell and worked in a bank until her marriage to The Rev. Cleo Kautsch, on December 8, 1943.

Alberta served alongside Cleo throughout his ministry, starting with several churches in Nebraska. In 1959, Cleo was called to serve at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, in Whittemore, Iowa. In 1979, they moved to Ida Grove, Iowa, where Cleo served as Pastor Emeritus at St. Paul Lutheran Church, for several years. Following the death of Cleo in 2001, Alberta remained living in Ida Grove until 2015, when she relocated to Mason City, Iowa, to be closer to family.

Alberta was exemplary as a partner to Cleo in ministry and serving others. She used her many musical talents to sing and direct church choirs, play and direct bell choirs, and play organ. She also taught Sunday School, gave piano lessons to many children, and was a member of various church and civic organizations. At the same time, she was superb as a mother to her children and an excellent homemaker and seamstress.

Alberta was a resident of Good Shepherd Health Care Center in Mason City for over six years. She was well cared for by the staff and loved by many of the residents. She was blessed with a wonderful marriage of 58 years and a strong, unwavering faith throughout her life.

She is survived by her children: Myron “Mike” (Elaine) Kautsch; Miriam (Garry) Pitts; and Carmen (Jim) Loveland. Also surviving are her brother Helmut (Deanne) Doerr, as well as 11 grandchildren, 19 (soon to be 20) greatgrandchildren, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.  

She was preceded in death by her husband; infant son Melvin; her parents; brothers and their spouses:  Harold (Alice) Doerr; Albert (Vi) Doerr; and twin brother Alvin (Marie) Doerr; sisters-in-law and their spouses:  Rhoda (Edward) Otterstatter, and Esther (Bruce) McRae, also Ricka Doerr; a daughter-in-law, an infant great-grandson, nieces and nephews.

Memorials made in memory of Alberta may be directed to the Kautsch family at P.O. Box 2303, Lawrence, KS, 66044, and will be donated to one of the following organizations: The Lutheran Hour; Mission Central; or St. Croix Hospice.