Ilse M. Byers

Graveside service for Ilse M. Byers of Odebolt is 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 15th, at the Odebolt Cemetery in Odebolt. Visitation begins at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday at the Farber & Otteman Funeral Home in Odebolt.

Ilse M. Byers, age 42, of Odebolt, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, June 12, 2005, at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa. Ilse was born on September 14, 1962, in Desamparados, Costa Rica the daughter of Carlos G. and Carmen E. (Vega) Alvarez. They moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1973. She graduated from West High School and attended Phoenix Community College for two years.

On June 21, 1986, Ilse was united in marriage to Max Lee Byers in Phoenix. Two children were born to this union: Gabriela and Matthew. They moved to LeMars in 1999 and Odebolt in 2000. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

In her earlier years Ilse worked for the Phoenix Community College Library and then worked seventeen years at Trans America Insurance Company in the claims department. For the past five years she was a nurses aide at Twilight Acres Nursing Home and teachers aide at Head Start in Denison, Iowa.

Ilse loved gardening, doing arts and crafts, dancing, working with the elderly, and attending her children’s activities in school. She was a loyal and loving wife, mother, daughter, and sister who will be missed by many.

Survivors include her husband Max; her children Gabriela and Matthew both at home; her parents, Carlos and Carmen Alvarez of Phoenix; her brothers: Carlos Alvarez, Jr. and wife Sandy of Phoenix and Alex Alvarez and wife Karen of Seattle, WA; her sisters: Ana Pena and husband Manuel of Phoenix, and Gabriela Vail and her husband Ian of Denver, CO; nieces, nephews, extended family members, and many friends.