A Prayer service for Hazel Eichman, 89, who died Monday, December 25, 2006, at the Indianola Good Samaritan Center in Indianola will be held 7:00 p.m., Thursday, December 28, at Overton Funeral Home in Indianola. A funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m., Saturday, December 30 at the First Lutheran Church in Milford, Iowa with burial following in the Holman Township Cemetery in Sibley, Iowa.

Hazel Whitney Eichman was born in Sibley, Iowa, the second of nine children, to Charles Wesley and Lily Ida Salzman Whitney, on the farm that her grandparents, David and Mary Jane Whitney homesteaded in 1872. She attended the Whitney Country School and graduated from Sibley High School. On September 4, 1935 she was united in marriage to Thomas Eichman and to this union three children were born; Mary, Thomas and Patricia.

Hazel's first job was as a telephone operator for Northwestern Bell. She then worked at the Osceola County Creamery in Sibley. She and her husband moved to Norwalk in 1968 and then to Indianola in 1973, where she was employed at the Indianola Good Samaritan Center. She had a love for fine arts and was a member of the Indianola First United Methodist Church, UMW, served as a shepherd for church and the prayer chain and was an active member of the Indianola Woman's Club.

She is survived by her children, Mary (Maurice) Goode of Indianola, Thomas (Alice) Eichman of Hyattsville, MD and Patricia (Donald) McNutt of West Des Moines; sisters, Eileen Winkel of Carlsbad, N.M., Margaret Knapp of Loyalton, CA, and June Burke of Storm Lake; brother, Duane (Janet) Whitney of Milford; grandchildren, Michael (Cynthia) Goode, Michelle (Brent) Spear, Peter Eichman, Jeff (Beth) McNutt, Tammy (Greg) Reisz, and Dan (Kris) McNutt; and ten great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held 5 – 7 p.m., Thursday, December 28 at Overton Funeral Home where family will be present to greet friends. Memorials may be designated to the Indianola First United Methodist Church or Hospice of Central Iowa.