A funeral service for Joyce L. Kilen, 90, of Lake Mills, Iowa, was held at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 9, at Salem Lutheran Church, Lake Mills. Visitation was one hour prior to the service on Thursday at the church. Interment was in the Salem Lutheran Cemetery.
Mrs. Kilen died Saturday, May 4, 2019, at the Lake Mills Care Center.
Joyce Madson was born Feb. 17, 1929, in Britt, Iowa, the daughter of Joyce and Genevieve (Walrath) Madson. She attended school in Lake Mills, and later earned her teaching certificate from Iowa Teacher’s College in Cedar Falls.
She married Gordon Kilen on June 17, 1949, in St. Paul, Minn. He died in 2011.
She taught country school before her children were born, and then lived and worked on the family farm. She also worked as a nurse’s aide at the Lake Mills Care Center for 24 years.
Her hobbies were gardening, reading, listening to music, and spending time with family and friends.
Survivors include her sons, Glenn (Darlene) Kilen, Rochester, Minn., John Kilen, Lake Mills, Jim (Catherine) Dietz-Kilen, Des Moines, and Dan (Kathy) Kilen, Eldridge; nine grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and her siblings, Denny Madson, Lake Mills, and Jeri (Jim) Beshey.
In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her siblings, Art Madson, Robert “Pete” Madson, and Joan Haag.
Memorials may be made to Salem Lutheran Church or the Joyce Kilen Appreciation Fund to be donated to the Lake Mills Care Center staff.