Carol Akers
October 23, 2009
Carol Akers, 68, died unexpectedly on Thursday, October 22, 2009, in Loveland, Colorado while on vacation. Funeral services will be held 12 p.m. Thursday, October 29, 2009, at Hamilton's near Highland Memory Gardens, 121 NW 60th Street, Des Moines, with burial to follow at Highland Memory Gardens Cemetery. Visitation will be held 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.
Carol was born March 5, 1941 to Tim and Dorothy Van Maanen in Oskaloosa. She devoted her life to music, receiving a bachelor's of music from Coe College in Cedar Rapids and a master's degree in composition from Drake University. She was first involved in music education with her classroom music series, "Up, Up and Away," on KDPS public television followed by over 30 years teaching classroom music including 16 years at Greenwood Elementary School. For many years, she was the organist/choir director at First Presbyterian Church in Des Moines.
Carol is survived by her sisters, Nellie Jane (Carleton) Meinders of New Sharon, IA and Betty Ann (Charles) Hendrickson of Carrying Place, Ontario, Canada; stepsons, Steve Akers of Mission Hills, KS and Tom (Joelyn) Akers of Charleston, IL; five step-grandchildren; two nieces; three nephews; two grand-nephews and one grand-niece. She is predeceased by her parents; and her husband, Max Akers.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in her memory.
www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com
Elaine and Mike Eastman
10/28/2009
To all of Carol's family,
We send our love and prayers for all of you in this time of grieving, sharing with each other, and remembering Carol. She was a lovely friend for me at COE College and in our beginning teaching years. Over the years we have kept in touch and have seen each other at least once a year when we came to Iowa. We were so excited to have Carol coming to our home and planning on showing Colorado to her. Carol and I had a wonderful time on Thursday reminiscing about COE and talking about family. We were sharing our DVD of our Switzerland trip with her, which she had looked forward to seeing, when The Lord called her home. Our sadness is great, but we were blessed to have Carol go home to be with her Lord and Max from our home.
We have been so happy to talk with several of you and we thank you for keeping in touch with us concerning the memorial for Carol. We can only imagine the sadness this has brought to you. We feel very close to you and will continue to keep you in our prayers. Elaine and Mike Eastman