Highlighting Inspiring Women: She blooms where she's planted

Throughout March, which is Women's History Month, the North Iowa Times-Clayton County Register is again publishing a series of articles highlighting local women. Whether it's through their careers, hobbies, volunteer efforts or unique personalities, these women have become an inspiration to others.

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

Lorna Christeleit grew up on a farm outside Elkader, where she learned to drive a little Ford tractor and milk cows. 

“My folks were older and my brother was already married, so us girls were expected to help with the chores, which we did and enjoyed,” she recalled. “We were taught it didn’t matter if you were a boy or a girl. If someone needed help, you went out and did what you could. That was our work ethic.”

Although she didn’t know it then, it marked Lorna’s first opportunity to “bloom where you are planted,” an expression a minister’s wife later shared with her that’s now become a favorite life motto.

After graduating from Central in 1963, Lorna and her husband Dennis eventually moved to his family’s farm near Volga.

“I became a dairy farmer’s wife,” she said. “I fed the cows and I bailed a lot of hay. I had my 4020, and I liked that tractor.”

Lorna was on the hospital auxiliary board in Elkader early on, and the couple also got involved with the milk cooperative Swiss Valley, promoting the company’s dairy products. As their three children grew, the Christeleits became big supporters of the school, especially the Central Music Boosters.

“We helped with the Carnival every year. In fact, when we were still in school, Denny and I were in the Carnival,” Lorna shared.

Lorna’s community work didn’t end there. She taught Sunday and bible school, and even helped initiate the Volga Community Bible School, which she directed for 25 years. The program is still going strong today.

“I’m proud of that, and really happy our church still has it,” she said.

That faith became even more important in 1993, when, just five days shy of her 18th birthday, Lorna and Denny’s youngest daughter was killed in a car accident.

“It was very devastating, and we could’ve given up. I did for awhile,” she reflected. “I remember laying on the couch and it was like, ‘OK, Lorna, are you going to spend the rest of your life laying here, or are you going to get up and keep going?’” 

“It was like she was telling me—and God was telling me—you need to get up and get going,” Lorna continued. “My goal then, with Sunday school, was I know my daughter is saved and I want to make sure other people have faith that, no matter what age you are when you pass away, that God is there for you.”

That renewed sense of hope also spilled over to the Volga Public Library, where Lorna began helping. She took over as director in 1999, the same year she and Denny moved to town. Transitioning from the farm where they’d lived for 32 years was tough, Lorna admitted, but it offered another opportunity to “bloom where you are planted.”

The couple originally planned to build downtown, connecting their home with Denny’s grandmother’s so they could help take care of her. The property’s location in the flood plain thwarted those plans, however, so the Christeleits built a home on Butler Street instead.

“It was kind of ironic,” Lorna said. “We moved in March of 1999, and in May of 1999 was the devastating flood. That house had water in it.”

God not only kept them from building in the flood plain, said Lorna, but he put she and Denny in a position to help others when the flood hit.

“It was quite the experience,” she said. “We had gone out to the farm to check on the creek, and when we came back, they were filling sandbags downtown. Then they got word the sandbags weren’t going to hold anything, so they decided to evacuate. They were going to take people to the fire station, well then they decided it could flood the fire station too. They wanted to know if we could take people in. We had quite a few people here.”

Looking around at the mostly elderly residents, Lorna remembered thinking, “I wonder if any of them need medication?” After gathering instructions, a group split up to collect items. 

“I felt like a thief because I would go in and get their medicine and one place I grabbed a loaf of bread and one place I grabbed some cranberry juice. One lady here had a dog, so I grabbed her some dog food,” Lorna said. “We didn’t think it was going to be that bad, but at midnight I went down to the four corner down here and it was devastating. I thought, ‘these people are not going to be going back home tonight.’ I came home, got everyone settled in and we had them for a couple days.”

Volga’s sewer and water lines went out, and the town lost phone service. Thanks to one man in town who had what Lorna described as a “big box phone,” people were able to connect with family members. 

“That was quite the night—I should write a book about it,” she said. “But I felt it was God who pushed us along and moved us to town so we were here when the flood hit. We had council meetings here, we had confirmation here, we had kids events here because the church basement was unusable.”

In the flood aftermath, Lorna was president of the St. Paul Lutheran congregation, and encouraged construction of the new fellowship hall. It was a courageous move for a small congregation, but the initiative passed.

“It was a positive thing for the community. It showed we weren’t going to die, that just because of the flood we weren’t going to give up,” Lorna said. “Now, it’s used a lot—birthdays, anniversaries, funeral dinners, baby showers, family reunions.”

Life wasn’t done throwing curve balls, though. In 2014, after stepping down as library director, Lorna learned she had lung cancer. 

“I wasn’t feeling good, and I didn’t know why. I was very exhausted,” she said. “It was a kind of fatigue I can’t describe. I’d want to do something, and then I’d just sit there and want to sleep.”

Fortunately, the cancer was detected early. Doctors removed the upper left lobe of Lorna’s lung, and she underwent chemotherapy. She kept a positive attitude through it all. Denny had battled bladder and kidney cancer and underwent major surgery earlier, so they had practice.

“You never know how you’re going to react to something until you hear that word,” Lorna said. “I told my kids, ‘I’m not going to give up. I’m going to fight this for all it’s worth.”

“We’ve been through the mill, so to speak, but we’re still here,” she noted.

In recent years, Lorna has stayed involved with the library as its board president. The group’s been working hard to get a new library building, and Lorna is hopeful it can open this year in the former hardware store.

Lorna also enjoys gardening, sewing and baking. Her apple cream pies have become famous, with one netting $500 at a recent library fundraiser.

Lorna honed her pie making skills when the church women started serving lunch at the Everitt machinery auctions over 40 years ago.

“I didn’t make as many pies then as I do now. We had a reputation for our pies,” she said.

The apple cream pie recipe comes from Denny’s mother and uses duchess apples from a tree at the Christeleit farm. Lorna makes her own crust using lard.

“Because that’s the best crust,” she quipped. 

Her record for one summer was 103. Last year, with help from friends and family, around 90 pies were made.

“They’re a pie you can freeze, so I sold some, I gave some away and we put them in the freezer and used them throughout the winter,” she said. “Now, I also do sour cream raisin, coconut cream, banana cream.” 

“The satisfaction of making them is knowing how much other people enjoy them,” Lorna explained. “It’s part of what keeps me doing it.”

For Lorna, any gesture, big or small, is a thank you to the Volga community that’s given so much to her family over the years. From the truck cruise committee and churches to the park board and EMTs, everyone plays a part in making the town what it is.

“I was raised in a loving family, and that bubbled over into the community—being concerned and working together and doing what you can. I’m thankful to have done as much as I have, and that I still can,” Lorna said. “When our daughter was killed, the communities really supported us, and you want to give back.” 

“That was pretty devastating, and what Denny went through with his surgery,” she continued. “You don’t always know what you’re going to have to do, but somewhere the strength comes from—from God and from yourself and in your upbringing. People respond to that. Hopefully, we’ve given people hope that, yes, your world can fall apart, but keep going. One day at a time.”