by JoAnn Alumbaugh
Whether stitching quilts, guiding youth, helping on the farm or participating in fundraisers, a strong thread of empathy and service runs through the life of Gladie Church. This active farm woman from Cresco, Iowa, richly deserves to be honored as a 2025 Iowa Master Farm Homemaker.
Church has made hundreds of quilts over the years and frequently donates them — both full size and mini — for hospital, school, community and church fundraisers. Her basement is a virtual sewing shop, with several sewing machines (including a longarm for quilting) readily at hand for use.
And while Church’s happy place is home on the farm, the eight years she worked at the local quilt shop gave her “the best part-time job I could have asked for,” she says.
Early start in 4-H
Church grew up on a dairy farm, but she told her mother, “I’m never going to marry a farmer.” She wasn’t counting on meeting Craig Church at the Howard County Fair as a youth in 4-H, however.
“I was washing Holsteins, and he was washing Guernseys,” she recalls with a smile. They went to dinner at one of the church stands that evening and discovered that they were born on the same day in the same year. She even made him pull out his wallet to prove it! It seemed like kismet, and the couple has been married for 54 years.
Besides meeting her husband through 4-H, Church owes much to the organization and readily offers her time and talents. A 15-year veteran 4-H leader and highly respected exhibit judge, Church is well-known for creating an environment where young members can develop essential life skills. She thrives on providing one-on-one guidance to 4-H members, offering encouragement before and during the judging process.
Church was an early adopter of technology when they bought a computer in 1987 to keep their farm records and herd health checks online. Record-keeping is especially important since they have a herd of registered Guernseys.
This forward-thinking attitude didn’t go unnoticed. Both Gladie and Craig have served as president of the Iowa Guernsey Breeders Association and have assisted with many state and national conventions. They also attended an international show in Europe, where they saw daughters of one of their bulls being exhibited on the Isle of Guernsey in 2013.
Family first
Gladie quickly points out that her most important accomplishment has been raising their four children. She and Craig instilled the values of leadership, service and hard work, and it’s evident those lessons were absorbed, as each of their children received degrees in higher education.
Their daughter, Amy, works for the American Dairy Science Association. She is married to Huub te Plate. Nathan and his wife, Naomi, manage the farm and will ultimately take over the operation. Gabe, who is married to Kimberly, is a nuclear energy training specialist, and Seth, married to Shannon, is a construction site superintendent.
“Best of all, our kids have blessed us with 14 grandchildren ranging in age from 6 to 24,” Gladie says.
Life has had its challenges, however. Craig’s three-year “cancer vacation,” as they call it, was an unexpected wake-up call, but they hope it’s in the past.
“Through it all, life is a constant transition,” Gladie says. “From early marriage to parenthood to subsequent grandparenthood, from farm partners with parents to sole proprietors, and then to farm partners with children and retirement — all the while, we are learning to adjust to each transition in life.”
Gladie’s life is stitched together with family, community service and agriculture. She has left — and will continue to leave — a lasting impression.
Alumbaugh is a freelance writer from Monroe, Iowa, and president of the Iowa Master Farm Homemakers Guild.