Find A Grave contributor Ben Bower ...

Sarah A. Alber, 85, of rural Wayland, IA died Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at her residence.
A funeral service for Sarah will be held at 10:30 AM on Saturday, January 25 at the Forest Home Cemetery Chapel in Mt. Pleasant. The Reverend Richard Iles, Pastor, St. Paul United Methodist Church, Waukon, IA., will officiate. Bur-ial will be in the Forest Home Cemetery. Friends may call from 12 Non to 8:00 PM on Friday at the Kimzey Funeral Home, 213 North Main Street, Mount Pleasant. The family will be present to receive friends from 5-8 PM Friday.
Mrs. Alber, the former Sarah Alice Nihart, was born December 29, 1928 in Mt. Pleasant, IA. She was the daughter of John Dale and Neva Lucy (nee Iles) Nihart. She graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School and attended Iowa Wes-leyan College. On July 23, 1976 in Oquawka, IL, Sarah was united in marriage to James Delbert “Jim” Alber.
Sarah worked as a patient’s aide at the Mt. Pleasant Mental Health Institute. She later worked at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown. For most of her working career, Sarah was a correctional officer for the Depart-ment of Corrections at both the Ft. Madison and Mt. Pleasant facilities.
Sarah was a member of the Washington United Methodist Church. During her tenure in the Dept. of Corrections, she served as the Chief Steward for the AFSCME union. She loved horse riding and had actually been a jockey on some of the horses her father raised. She enjoyed flea markets, where she was a keen shopper for antiques and collect-ables. She and her husband raised exotic chickens to sell at the flea markets. Sarah also enjoyed to go hunting. She liked to watch NASCAR races to root for her favorite driver, Jeff Gordon. She was a former member of the Women of the Moose of Mt. Pleasant, and the first female member of the Wapello Chapter of Ducks Unlimited. Above all, she treasured most the love she held for her children, grandchildren and animals, especially her pet dog “Sox”.
Those thankful for sharing in Sarah’s life include her husband Jim of Wayland; 7 children – Stephanie Rich, William Hoover, Henry Hoover and Tanya Martin, all of Mt. Pleasant, Neva Hoover Wilson and her husband Tracy of Burling-ton, Sandy Hoover of Wayland and Sonya Libe and her husband Perry of Washington, IA; 5 step children – Gary Alber of Lomax, IL, Michelle Witte and her husband Chris of Burlington, Julie Alber of Louisiana, Delbert Alber and his wife Kim of Gulfport, IL and Lance Alber and his fiancée Brandie of Burlington; 17 grandchildren, 20 great grandchildren and a step brother, John Nihart.
Her parents, a son – Andy Hoover, 2 brothers – Robert and Richard Nihart and a sister – Pauline Jeffries precede Sarah in death.