KEYSTONE: Lena Pickart, age 96, died on Sunday April 9, 2006 at the Keystone Care Center following an extended illness.

A Funeral Mass will be held at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Van Horne on Wednesday, April 12, 2006 at 10 AM with Father Keith L. Birch as Celebrant. Interment will be held at Holy Cross Cemetery in Keystone. Friends may call at Phillips Funeral Home Chapel in Keystone from 4 to 7 PM , Tuesday. A Vigil Service will begin at 7 PM .

Lena was born April 17, 1909 at Armour, SD, the daughter of Joseph and Gertrude (Mengenhausen) Bigge. She married Anton Pickart on February 21, 1928 in Armour, SD. They moved to a farm near Norway , IA in 1934 and then to the Keystone area in 1942. In 1982 Lena moved to an apartment in Van Horne. Since December 2002 she has resided at the Keystone Care Center.

She is survived by her seven children, Edward (Carol) Pickart, Dorothy (Verlus) Gloede all of Vinton, Ilene (Herman) Paulsen, John (Charlene) Pickart, Richard (Dianne) Pickart, all of Keystone, Mary Jane (David) Schallau of Lincoln, NE, and Linda (Joe) Kaloupek of Elberon; twenty-six grandchildren; forty-eight great-grandchildren; nine step-grandchildren and eight step-great-grandchildren; her brother, William Bigge; and four sisters, Margaret Ronspies, Leona Wright, Catherine Grosz and Elizabeth Pickart, all of South Dakota.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Anton, in 1964; four brothers, Emil, Joe, Bernard and William; and two sisters, Marie Schulte and Louise Schmidt; one grandson, Roger Becker and one step-great grandson, Jamie Blanchard.

Lena was known for her crocheting and quilt making. She was an avid homemaker and always loved to spend time with her children and grandchildren. Everyone she knew has a piece of her handiwork.