Irene Fisk, 84, of rural Searsboro, passed away Sunday morning, Sept. 29, 2019, at Unity Point Grinnell Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will begin at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, at New Sharon Assembly of God Church. Burial will be held in the Ivy Hill Cemetery in Malcom. Memorial contributions may be made to New Sharon Assembly of God Church and will be used for the Full Life Youth Ministries.
Irene Marie Peterson was born in Des Moines as Bonnie Rachel Wallace, the daughter of Clarence Shelby and Rachel Mae Bates Wallace. She was the eighth child of 12 known siblings. She was adopted in 1948 by Leonard and Jocena (Bangtson) Peterson. At the age of 16, she moved to Montezuma to live with Leonard's sister, Evelyn Blain. Irene attended Montezuma Community School where she met her first husband, James William McNaul (1935-1969).
They were married June 21, 1953, at the Skaraborg Lutheran Church in Calhoun County and to this union were born five children. They lived in Poweshiek County for a couple years before Jim enlisted in the Army where they spent some time in Lawton, OK, then Ft. Hood, TX, and at another Army base in Louisiana. When Jim was discharged from the Army, they moved back to Poweshiek County where they began farming.
In 1965, they left the farm due to Jim's health and moved to Malcom until his death in 1969. Irene remarried Daniel Boone Fisk on Aug. 10, 1970, at the home of Doc and Colleen Van Kampen. She moved her children to his farm located south of Searsboro, where they now resided. Daniel had three daughters of his own, making for a large farm family.
Dan and Irene were faithful members of New Sharon Assembly of God Church. Irene was known to many as Mama Rene, loved and respected by all who knew her. She was always ready with a warm hug. Through the years, she served her church as a board member, senior Sunday school teacher, and Women's Ministries Dorcas Committee leader; and she will be greatly missed.
Irene is survived by her husband, Daniel Fisk; and their children, Cyndy McNaul of Grinnell, Charlotte (Russell) Beyer of Pella, Jacque (Tom) Russell of Riverside, CA, Kenneth McNaul of Searsboro, Jo (Ricardo) Castaneda of Marengo, IL, Jerri (Norm) Belew of Des Moines, Cheri McNaul of Tulsa, OK, and Dan (Marj) McNaul of Hillsborough, NJ; and many grand-children and great-grandchildren.
