Arlene Dorothy Kratochvil was born June 14, 1922 in Sioux County, Iowa to Dale and Edna (Stief) Abbey. She died December 19, 2015 in Le Mars, Iowa at the age of 93 years, six months and five days.

Arlene was raised on a farm near Hawarden and she graduated from Hawarden High School in 1940. She worked as a telephone operator for two years. On January 2, 1943 she married Malcom Kratochvil in Dakota City, Nebraska. Together they moved to a farm near Alcester where they raised their two daughters and attended the Hawarden Baptist Church. Arlene was a dedicated farm wife; she also found time to work at Vollmar Petersons shoe store in Hawarden.

She and Mac retired into Alcester in 1974. There they joined the Alcester United Church of Christ where Arlene was active in the Ladies Aid and she was a member of the Union County Extension Club for many years. Arlene enjoyed knitting and crocheting. Soon after Mac's death in January 2012, Arlene moved to Plymouth Manor in Le Mars to be near her daughter, Linda.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Malcom; an infant daughter, Sandra; great-granddaughter, Brooklyn Janssen; son-in-law, Rich Janssen; brother, Orland Abbey and sister, Carol Faulhaber.

Surviving Arlene are her two daughters and their husbands, Linda (Glendon) Peterson of Le Mars, Iowa and Lorna (Kelly) Paul of Ashtabula, Ohio; four grandchildren, Angela (Joe) Tingley, Jesse Paul, Amy (Pat) Smith and Scott (Jen) Janssen; six great-grandchildren, Lily Tingley, Madison, Sam and Charlie Smith and Adelyn and Benjamin Janssen; one brother Don (Delores) Abbey of McCook, Nebraska.

Funeral services will be 11AM Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at the Presbyterian United Church of Christ in Le Mars. Visitation with the family present will be 5-7PM Tuesday at Wass Funeral Home in Alcester with a prayer service at 7PM.