ALVA RUTH STIRN Alva Ruth Stirn, 88, of Chicago and formerly of Manning died Thursday, January 12, 1989, at Hinsdale Hospital in Hinsdale, Illinois. Funeral services were held today at 10:30 a.m. at the Ohde Funeral Home in Manning. Officiating was the Rev. Sushil Joseph of the United Methodist Church. Burial was in the Manning City Cemetery.
Casket bearers were Tim Hockett, Kit Hockett, William Hoepper, Steve Zondrasek, Gary Witt, and Duane Boersma.

Mrs. Stirn was born on February 22, 1900, near Manning in Crawford County, the daughter of Grant and Mollie (Myatt) Hockett.

After graduation from Manning High School in 1917, she attended Simpson College and received a teaching certificate from the University of Northern Iowa.
She taught elementary school in Iowa and Chicago, Illinois. During the 1920s and the 1930s, she sang on live radio.

On February 16, 1934, she married Oscar William Stirn at Chicago. After her marriage, she continued teaching until 1937.

In 1955, she joined her husband in his business, Reliable Taste and Chemical Company of Chicago. She served as vice president, secretary and treasurer of the firm as well as on the board of directors until she retired in 1968.

While living in the Chicago area, she was active in the Eastern Star, the South Shore Chapter where she was Past Matron. She was also a member of the Daughters of the Nile, and was Past Grand Officer for the State of Illinois in 1952 and was later Grand Representative.

After retirement, they moved to Manning where her husband died in 1972. She remained in Manning for a short time before moving to Largo, Florida, where she lived for eight years. In 1983, she moved to the Fairview Baptist Home in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Survivors include a son, Oscar Nicholas Stirn and his wife, Margijon of Naperville, Illinois; a daughter, Hariot Louise Stirn of Manning; a brother, Gerald Lockett of Manning; two granddaughters, Susan Ann Conibear of Schaumberg, Illinois, and Sarah Dawn Hoepper of Naperville; nieces and nephews including Gay Hockett-Johnson of South Holland, Illinois, who lived with Alva at one time.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and a sister, Elsie Gunderson.