Dorothy "May" Ager

Dorothy May Ager, age 84, of Waterville, IA, died Saturday, October 20, 2018, at the Good Samaritan Center in Waukon. Funeral services will be Friday, October 26th, at 11:00 AM at Old East Paint Creek Lutheran Church 1799 Elon Drive, in rural Waterville, with Pastor Ken Kimball. Friends may call from 9:30 AM until time of services on Friday at the church. Martin Funeral Home in Waukon is handling the arrangements. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to North American Lutheran Seminary or Lutheran World Relief.

May was born on May 17, 1934, in Perth, Western Australia, the daughter of Cyril and Edith (Avenell) Smith. May trained as a teacher and taught in both Western Australia and Papua New Guinea where she met the love of her life, Theodore Charles Ager. May and Ted were married at Claremont Methodist Church, Western Australia on June 13, 1959.

She then became a full time and life-long partner in ministry with Ted. Their first fifteen years were spent teaching in the school system of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea and then writing a Christian Education Curriculum for all the church's primary T schools. In 1973, they moved to the US and received a call to serve at Immanuel Lutheran Church, Titonka IA. Seven years later they accepted a call to serve at St. John Lutheran Church, Luana IA.

In 1994, they retired to a shed near Waterville. There May designed and helped Ted build the home in which they lived for the rest of her life. They joined both Old East and Old West Paint Creek Lutheran Churches where May was always a willing worker. She was a leader in Lutheran World Relief quilt making for many years.

May supported Ted in all she did--serving both as a volunteer and official secretary for his parishes. May loved the outdoors, camping and canoeing the BWCAW, gardening, sewing and knitting.  Her faith and her family were at the core of her life.

May is survived by her husband, Ted of Waterville; her children: Sharon  (Mark Patterson) Ager of Eau Claire, WI and Danita  (Timothy) Ballantyne of Deep River, CT; her grandchildren: Heather and David Ballantyne; her great-grandson, Alistor Schaub; her sisters: June Parotte and Val Richardson of Western Australia; a brother Brian Smith, of Western Australia and numerous nieces and nephews. May was preceded in death by her parents, Cyril & Edith Smith, her brothers, Arthur and Ron Smith and her infant daughter, Susan.

Casketbearers are Justin and Eric Westendorf, Derrin Boerschel, Brian Long, Carla Christensen, and John Ager.