Bessie Sierk

Bessie Sierk, 100, died Thursday, October 27 ^th at Grand Haven Retirement Community, Eldridge.

Services will be held at 10:00 A.M. Tuesday, November 1 ^st at the McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Chapel in Bettendorf. She will be laid to rest at Pine Hill Cemetery in Davenport. Visitation will be from 4:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Monday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Princeton Presbyterian Church, the Princeton Community Center or the Bessie M. Sierk Scholarship, North Scott Schools Foundation.

Bessie was born on February 1, 1911 in rural Princeton, Iowa to Orvie and Bessie (Birney) Norton. When she was just nine weeks old, her mother passed away; her maternal grandparents, Henry and Jane Birney raised her. Bessie attended school in Princeton and was a 1928 graduate of Clinton High School.

After six weeks of training, she taught in a one-room country school for nine years. She married Lloyd Sierk on June 18, 1936 and became a farmer’s wife. Later she returned to teaching in the North Scott School District. During the course of her long career, Bessie taught in four different one-room schools, the old Princeton School and retired as a kindergarten teacher from Virgil Grissom Elementary, Princeton in 1976.

Bessie and Lloyd left the farm in 1964, moving to Princeton and later to Bettendorf. Lloyd passed away in 1993.

Bessie was a lifetime member of the Princeton Presbyterian Church and her memberships in the Grassy Lane Club and Echo Rebekah Lodge date back to 1930 and 1931 respectively. She was a Past Noble Grand and held memberships in Liedertaufel, the Northwest Turner Auxiliary and Women of the Moose. For many years she served as the Princeton correspondent for the North Scott Press, the Quad-City Times and the Clinton Herald.

Her survivors include sons, Robert (Bonnie) Sierk of Scottsdale, Arizona and Donald (Patricia) Sierk of Bettendorf, seven grandchildren, Elizabeth (Jim) Corridan, Robyn (Jeff) Canfield, Kara (Brent) Reeder, Courtney (Brian) Gaintner, Christopher (Polly) Sierk, Jonathan (Stacey Thompson) Sierk and Alexander (Sara) Sierk; and twelve great-grandchildren.

The family wishes to thank the wonderful staff at Grand Haven and Dr. Andy Edwards. When commenting on her longevity, Bessie stated, “I have had a full life blessed with good health, a devoted and loving family and a host of friends.”