FAIRBURY - Emma M. Yentes, 98, of Carefree, Ariz., formerly of Fairbury, died at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 1, 2010, at Carefree Manor Residence Home.

She was born Jan. 10, 1912, in Cropsey Township, Ill., to Adam and Rachel Farney Weisser Brucker. She married Benjamin Yentes on Jan. 21, 1933, in Peoria. He preceded her in death on Sept. 23, 1988.

She also was preceded in death by a half sister, Aldine Weisser Maier; half brothers, Louis, Fred, Walter, Elmer and Howard Brucker; Brucker half sisters, Minnie Lange, Anna, Ella Underwood, Laura Sheppelman and Irene Yoder; and Yentes brothers and sisters-in-law, Peter, George, Anna, Oscar, Louis, Hilda, Martha and Joseph.

Surviving are her niece, Velda Maier (Melvin) Lenz of Gilman, Ill., and Mesa, Ariz.; great-niece, Debra Lenz (Karl) Koenig of Scottsdale, Ariz.; great-nephews, Gary (Nancy) Lenz of McAllen, Texas, and Steven (Jill) Lenz of Phoenix, Ariz.; and numerous nieces, nephews, great- and great-great nieces and nephews.

The last direct descendant of Adam Brucker, an early settler of the Cropsey prairie, Emma graduated from Fairbury Township High School and Gallagher Business School in Kankakee, Ill. She and her husband lived in the Morton, East Peoria and Decatur areas while Ben worked at Caterpillar Inc.

Her hobbies included gardening, flower arranging, crocheting and other needlework, as well as reading.

She and her husband are both affectionately remembered for their lively outlook on life and their storytelling.

Emma was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Fairbury.

Services will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 6, 2010, at Knapp-Johnson Funeral Home in Morton, with the Rev. Charles McDonald officiating. Visitation will be from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Burial will be in the Morton Apostolic Christian Church Cemetery.