Deva Countryman Welton, daughter of John Calvin Duffield and Mary Olive Bennett Duffield, was born Dec. 7, 1915, in Garden Grove and died May 23, 2003, at Mercy Capitol Hospital in Des Moines. She was 87.
She received her education in the Des Moines schools. She married Roy Countryman on April 22, 1933, in Guthrie Center and they became the parents of three children, Calvin, Mary-Del and Donald. Mr. Countryman preceded her in death in July 1971. She married Kenneth B. Welton on June 16, 1985, in Ankeny. Mr. Welton preceded her in death in April 1998.
Mrs. Welton had lived in Des Moines for nearly 77 years before moving to the Garden Grove area. She lived near Garden Grove until 1993 when she moved to Osceola. She worked as a bookkeeper for the Iowa Council on Alcohol Problems from March 1951 until October 1971 when she retired. Following her retirement she became a caretaker for elderly women. She was active with the Alzheimer's support group. She was a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Osceola and Des Moines where she served as a deaconess and church secretary.
In addition to her parents Mrs. Welton was preceded in death by her two husbands; two brothers, Gordon Bennett Duffield and Dean Calvin Duffield; a sister, Grace Deellen Shaffer Cowdrick; two grandsons, Junior Countryman and Steve Savage and a great-grandson, Andrew Curtis.
Mrs. Welton is survived by her two sons, Calvin Eugene Countryman and his wife, Tana Countryman, of Osceola and Donald Paul Countryman and his wife, Jean Countryman, of Creston; a daughter, Mary-Del Beane and her husband, Gilbert Lee Beane, of Des Moines; two stepdaughters, Karen Savage and Joann McConnell of Des Moines; 21 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; as well as other relatives and friends.