Edna Maebell Henkel

Edna Maebell Neff was born on November 18, 1914 in Madrid, Nebraska to William and Edith Neff. She was their third child and the eldest daughter. She had two older brothers, Roy and George, and five younger brothers, Johnny, Elmer, Orville, Raymond, and Kenneth. She had three younger sisters, Gladys, Ila, and Gretta.

After graduating from high school in Briggsdale, Colorado, at twenty years of age, Edna came to work as a housekeeper for room and board for a Jewish family off of Colfax and Osceola in Denver

She married Jacob Henkel, Jr. on December 2, 1937 and they had four children. Darlene Mae was born in her grandparents house, Jacob and Elizabeth Henkel's house, on 120th Avenue in Eastlake, Colorado; Donald Dean was born at University Hospital in Denver; Joan Marie was born at home in Eastlake; and Terry Leroy was born at University Hospital in Denver.

The family moved to Commerce City, Colorado in 1949 and bought the house at 6830 Olive Street. The family all became Christians at a revival in Denver in 1954.

She was a housekeeper at a motel, worked at a greenhouse, and cut samples at a fabric store, and worked for Retired Volunteers for America for a time. She also worked for QLE Club (Qualified by Long Experience) in Commerce City. She was also a member of the Derby Plain Jane's Club.

Edna and Jake were married for forty-nine years before Jake passed away on November 5, 1985. They had eleven grandchildren; Jerry, Larry, Jeffrey, and Michelle, the children of Darlene and Donald Robbins; Troy and Chad, the children of Donald and Audrey Henkel; Gerry, Susan, and Tim, the children of Joan and Glen Hysom; and Stacey and Nicole, the children of Terry Henkel and Bonnie Koch. They had thirty great grandchildren.

She loved to cook, garden, sew, and was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend to many.

She passed away peacefully in her sleep on the morning of February 7, 2015 after more the a century on the Earth. She was preceded in death by her husband, Jake; her daughter, Darlene; and all of her siblings except her sister, Gretta.

We will all miss her smile, her warm inviting personality, her adventurous nature, and her zest for life.

"God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them."

Hebrews 6:10