Naomi Soetebeer

Naomi Jean Soetebeer, 95, of Decorah, IA and formerly of Fort Dodge, IA, passed away on Friday, December 24, 2021, at Aase Haugen Senior Services in Decorah. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, December 30, 2021, at Epworth United Methodist Church, 2025 11th Avenue South – Fort Dodge, with Pastor Jena Finch-Manchester officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. Interment will take place in North Lawn Cemetery. Per the request of the family, masks are required. Services will be live streamed via the Historic Bruce Funeral Home Facebook page. Arrangements are with Historic Bruce Funeral Home of Fort Dodge. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Shriners Hospitals for Children or the American Cancer Society.

Naomi Jean (Brayton) Soetebeer was born on July 25, 1926, the daughter of Glen and Verda (Shoopman) Brayton, in Titonka, Iowa. She attended schools in Kossuth County, Iowa, before moving to Wisconsin. She graduated from Hawkins, Wisconsin High School in 1944.

Naomi was united in marriage to David Aaron Soetebeer on September 5, 1945, in Prentice, Wisconsin. This union was blessed with three children, Connie, Kathy, and Kim.

The family moved from Wisconsin to Otho, Iowa, in 1950, then to Fort Dodge in 1954. She moved to Decorah, Iowa, in 2019.

During her lifetime in Fort Dodge, she was employed at Globe Union, Gates Department Store, and Don Peterson Photo. She worked part time at the County Home and Webster County Day Care after retirement.

Naomi was a longtime member of Epworth United Methodist Church, joining the church in 1954. She was a member of Hannah Circle, and she and David sang in the church choir.

Naomi loved watching sports. She was an avid fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Green Bay Packers. She cheered for the Wisconsin Badgers, unless they were playing the Hawkeyes. She loved playing cards with family and friends. She dearly loved to read, and read even more books in her later years, often one book each week. Her lists of books that she read totaled over 600. She had a keen sense of humor and loved her family.

Every year the family vacationed in Wisconsin spending time visiting family and then vacationing at Little Sand Bay, Wisconsin, on Lake Superior. Some of the best memories were made. Later Naomi and David traveled and enjoyed vacations in other parts of the country.

Naomi is survived by daughters Connie (William) Bergstrom of Decorah and Kim Soetebeer of Fort Dodge, 11 grandchildren, and many great grandchildren, a brother Donald Brayton of Eagle Grove, Iowa, and a sister, Carol (William) Swanson of Iowa City, Iowa.

Naomi was preceded in death by her parents, her husband David in 2000, a daughter Kathy Robbins in 2008, and a grandson Eric Sayadinejad in 2016; a brother, William Brayton, and sisters JoAnn Ehrhardt, Patricia Larson, Doris Koppe, Bonnie Halligan, and Judith Law.

She will always be remembered in the hearts of those whose lives she touched.