ETHEL LEORA (SNYDER) McCONKEY, age 98, of Worthington, died Wednesday, August 26, 2009, at the Crossroads Care Center in Worthington. She was born October 30, 1910, the second daughter of Harry and Maude (Extrom) Snyder, on a farm near Sibley, IA. When Ethel was a year old, she moved with her parents and older sister to a farm near Storm Lake, IA. In 1914, the family moved to a farm near Borup, MN, in the Red River Valley. The family returned to a farm near Storm Lake, IA, in 1917. In 1919, Harry and his brother were hired by Standard Oil Company to start the first gasoline station in Casselton, ND. In 1923, Harry decided to return to farming near Hancock. Ethel and her sister, Doris graduated from Hancock High School in the spring of 1927. She attended Normal Training for one year at Benson and received her teacher?s certificate. She then taught grades one through eight in one room rural schools in southwestern Minnesota for three years. The following year she started dating Loarn ?Bud? McConkey. They decided to get married after three years and were married at Spencer, IA on March 6, 1935, Bud?s twenty-third birthday. Bud worked as a hired man on a farm south of Alta, IA, for three months and then moved south of Storm Lake. Ethel did the cooking, cleaning & washing, while Bud helped with the farming. After nearly three years and expecting a child, they decided they would like to have their own place. For the next 12 years they rented four different farms near Alta, Early and Arthur, IA. and had three sons to complete their family. In 1950 they purchased a farm near Brewster, MN. For the next twenty-four years Bud and Ethel farmed, milked cows, grew hogs and chickens and raised their sons to adulthood. The family was active in the First Presbyterian Church in Brewster. The sons all graduated from Brewster High School. Ethel was active with the Brewster Senior Citizens. She enjoyed playing cards, crossword puzzles, fishing, cooking and gardening. In 1974, Bud decided to retire and rented out the farm. In retirement, they began traveling visiting most of the states in the Union including Hawaii and Alaska. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the spring of 1985. Bud passed away on September 22, 1987. After returning home to the farm at Brewster in 2000 after spending her 20th winter in Texas, Ethel moved to the Meadows retirement apartments in Worthington. She left the farm after spending more than 50 years there. She remained there until the fall of 2007 when she broke her hip the second time in eight years. She became a resident of the Crossroads Nursing Home at that time. Ethel is survived by her three sons, Jerry and Charlene McConkey of Worthington, LeRoy of St. Augustine, Florida and Kenny of Fridley. There are seven grandchildren, Michele Cranston, Michael (Kelly) McConkey, Kimberly (Todd) Schroeder, Christine (Dallas) Smid, Susanne Linssen, Gail (John) Hoveland, Shelia (David) Meyer; twenty-one great grandchildren and one sister-in-law, Jean (Grundmeier) Snyder. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Bud, two brothers, James and George Snyder and two sisters, Harriet Hubbard and Doris Pierson.