Alice E. (Hively) Grey

Alice Elizabeth Hively, the daughter of Earl and May Spear Hively, was born July 15, 1928 in Lyon County, Minnesota. She was called to heaven Thursday, December 5, 2019 from her home at Ruthven Community Care Center in Ruthven, Iowa.

She grew up on a farm in Lyon County and learned to operate a linotype at the Balaton (Minn.) Press-Tribune. Soon, she started work at the Tyler Journal-Herald as a linotype operator working there while the men were off to war. She worked for C.B. Seipp and son, Robert. Sometimes when C.B. was tired of feeding the job press, they switched jobs. Of course, the press was so big she had to stand on a box to feed it.

Eventually, life took her to Manson, Iowa and she started at the Journal in 1969. She continued there until the newspaper transitioned to more modern typesetting.

She also worked at the Women’s Reformatory in Rockwell City, Iowa and worked as a cook at the Good Samaritan Center in Manson. For several years she owned and operated Alice’s Country Florals in Manson, which she loved.

For fun, and because she could, she earned her welding certificate and learned how to drive a semi-truck.

She lived in Manson, Pocahontas and Ruthven, Iowa and became part of the family at the Ruthven Community Care Center in 2017.

She was a Past Matron of Eastern Star, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, Federated Women’s Club and worked with the Campfire Girls in North Dakota. She belonged to the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Manson where she was a member of Circle and taught Sunday School.

She enjoyed many things, shooting, archery, riding horses, taking in horse shows and showing her registered Suffolk sheep at the Iowa State Fair and Clay County Fair. When she was young, she loved roller skating and she loved to take the girls to the lake. She often remembered a trip to Minnesota where her children locked her in the tent and wouldn’t let her out until she had her swimsuit on.

She enjoyed the many trips with the girls shopping, antiquing and visiting greenhouses. And, she loved the over-the-road trips she took with Jeff, especially to the Southwest. She often recalled the fun of playing Nintendo with Justin and baking bread with Abby.

She loved her flower gardens, making floral arrangements and cooking. Her family will treasure the Family Cookbook that she spent so many hours creating.

Preceding Alice in death were her parents; her brothers: Ray, Clifford and Lester Hively; and her sisters: Gladys Dayland Olson and Helen VanWinkle.

Left with stories to cherish are her children: Nancy Jane Olson, Fort Atkinson, Wisc.; Jeffrey Lynn Olson, Lewisburg, Tenn.; Connie Jo Reinert (Mike), Lost Island Lake, Iowa; and Carolyn Joy Ricklefs, Gilmore City, Iowa; her grandchildren: Justin Michael Reinert, Chicago, Ill.; Abby Jean Tucker (Brian), Manson, Iowa; and Joseph Olson, Centerville, Tenn.; and her great-grandsons: Alan James Tucker and Lucas John Tucker. Also, brother-in-law Arnold VanWinkle, Marshall, Minn.; and sisters-in-law: Evelyn (Mrs. Ray) Hively, Marshall, Minn. and Betty (Lester) Hively, Lidgerwood, Minn., and many nieces and nephews.

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