Kathryn L. Roelfsema

Kathryn “Kay” Lucille Roelfsema, 92, of Iowa Falls, passed away on February 28, 2025, at Ashbrook Assisted Living in Iowa Falls, IA. Memorial visitation will be held from 12 noon until time of memorial service at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at Steamboat Rock Baptist Church, with light refreshments served after the service. A private family inurnment will take place at Steamboat Rock Cemetery. 

Kathryn Jons was born in Pinedale, Wyoming, February 25,1933 to Josephine (Irby) and Henry Jons. She graduated from Riverton (WY) High School in 1950 and the University of Wyoming in 1954. Although she lived the majority of her life in Iowa; in her heart she was always a Wyoming girl. She had a dedicated career as an English, French, and social studies teacher at Steamboat Rock and Eldora high schools and Ellsworth Community College spanning over 40 years. Teaching was truly her calling and passion and she had a lasting impact on her students, many of whom stayed in touch with her. 

She married Robert W. Roelfsema in 1954 at Paton, Iowa, and they had three children: Kirby, Konrad “Kip”, and Kerrin. The couple later divorced.

Kay was a member of the Steamboat Rock Baptist Church, active in the American Legion Auxiliary, DAR, Delta Kappa Gamma (a teachers organization), Iowa Poetry Association, Steamboat Rock Progress Club, and the Iowa River Greenbelt Resource Trust (IRGRT). As a project for IRGRT, Kay researched and authored a paper on the first settlers in Hardin County with European heritages. Later she developed the paper into a movie script, People of the River II which she co-produced. 

Kay had a variety of interests and hobbies including politics, cross-country skiing, writing poetry, and acting. She had acting roles in an IRGRT sponsored historical movie and a role in a My Town Pictures movie filmed in Eldora. She also did one-woman shows that included portrayals of women who impacted U.S history such as Esther Hobart Morris who helped women in Wyoming get the right to vote. She was instrumental in starting the cemetery theater productions in Steamboat Rock; she wrote many of the scripts and portrayed several of the women. 

Kay is survived by daughter Kirby (Ken) Stoller of Salem, OR; son Kip (Jill) Roelfsema of Denver, IA; daughter Kerrin (Dallas, Jr.) Jass of Iowa Falls; five grandchildren and fifteen great- grandchildren whom she loved and cherished, extended family, and many dear friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; sister and brother-in-law Jo and Bill King; sister and brother-in-law Patricia and Bill Mund; and sister and brother-in-law Eileen and Wayne Coursey.

The family extends heartfelt gratitude to Care Initiatives Hospice and especially the staff of Ashbrook Assisted Living for their nearly nine years of loving care.

Memorials may be directed to the family c/o Kerrin Jass, 179 Lark Ave., Iowa Falls, IA 50126 to be distributed in a memorial scholarship for a student pursuing a career in education.