Iola Renna

Iola Renna was an amazing woman of great character, strength and love. She dedicated her entire life to caring for others, assuming their burdens without complaint and always with compassion and generosity. She was a dedicated daughter, devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, and yet most of all, Iola was an example of the power of a mother's love for her family. Iola's story began on a warm summer day in 1918, in the strictly Norwegian community of Winger, Minnesota, in the northwest corner of the state. Those were difficult times for so many in this country, as we bravely entered the First World War, risking so many American men in the process. Even in those difficult days of wartime, Knute and Hilma (Tinberg) Helling found a reason to celebrate. On August 11, 1918, the couple welcomed their youngest child, a beautiful baby girl they named Iola. IIn the Helling home, Iola joined older brothers Eberhardt and Kenneth, and older sister Ina. Sadly, when she was just 18 months old, her mother died during a tragic flu epidemic that swept through the country, leaving her father to care for Iola and her brothers and sister. Iola's father never remarried, and her sister Ina took over many of the motherly duties of the family, despite being just five years old at the time. All of the children learned to help out around the home, and developed incredible work ethics and an unusual closeness. The entertainment of the day were the weekend dances in Winger, and Iola had fond memories of walking to town with her father to attend them. When she became a young woman, she met a man named Arthur Renna at one of those dances, and the two hit it off, and quickly began dating. Arthur went off to World War II and and saw many battles which he fought valiantly, earning the bronze and silver stars, as well as the Purple Heart after he was shot in action. Upon his return, Iola and Arthur were married on October 13, 1945, in Moorhead, Minnesota, just over 80 miles away, beginning a wonderful marriage together. The newlyweds opened a little diner in Winger, called Rex Caf, but eventually, moved to Muskegon, Michigan in search of a better life. They moved to the beachfront town along with many people from their home town that eased the transition to their new home, where they found work at Continental Motors. Iola quit working with the birth of their only child, son Steve, on April 6, 1954. The Rennas lived in a house on Houston Street, right across from their church, Samuel Lutheran. Ten years after Steve was born, in 1964, they moved to a beautiful home on Franklin Street, where Iola would live the rest of her days, and where they formed many wonderful memories together. Iola was a wonderful mother, who simply doted on her son. In the summer, she would take Steve to Deer Park, which is now called Michigan's Adventure, and the family made annual trips to her hometown of Winger to visit family, just as many of their transplanted Muskegon friends did. Iola was also a woman of great faith, and became very active in her church in Muskegon. She volunteered her time, and worked as a custodian there with her husband for over 20 years. Iola also became very close with the pastors, staff, and their families there. She continued a close relationship with Berniece Johnson Dorais, whose husband, Russ Johnson, was the pastor at Samuel for many years and the two of them shared a weekly lunch at Russ' Restaurant up until today. Foremost in Iola's life, though, was always her family, and she found her greatest enjoyment from caring for her son and later grandchildren. When Steve got divorced in 1992, Iola lovingly cared for his young daughters while he worked for the U.S. Postal Service. She loved it, of course, and was there every day with her grandkids in the summer, doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry and chaperoning, even on Saturdays when Steve had to work. Iola also made them wonderful lunches to take to school each day. Of course, she also doted on her son Steve, and daily baked him cookies or cakes! Fridays were very special for the two of them, when Iola and her son always attended the Eagles' Fish Fry. She loved to spoil her granddaughters, Jennifer and Bethany, and Steve's stepson Ryan, who she treated as her own grandson. When the grandkids grew older, she loved to take them shopping to the mall every few weekends, and always said her grandchildren kept her feeling young. Even when she developed lung disease, Iola made sure their shopping-trip tradition didn't suffer. Iola was a woman of such great strength, though, she persevered through more pain than most people could take. She was the consummate "stoic Scandinavian," who bore all her burdens with a quiet strength and grace. When she was in the hospital, a doctor asked her to rate her pain on a scale of 1-8. Iola said it was an 8, to which her doctor replied that most people with that level of pain would be screaming! That was Iola, though. She bore her burdens quietly, gracefully, and without complaint. She was always far more concerned with the well-being of others than she was herself, always putting her family's needs ahead of her own. She was a dedicated daughter, devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, and yet most of all, Iola was an example of the power of a mother's love. Today her love, and her life, lives on in all who knew her. She will be greatly missed.