Phyllis Clemens

Mrs. Phyllis Clemens, 98, of Sioux Center, Iowa, died on July 25, 2026, at the Crown Pointe Care Center.

A visitation will be held at the Memorial Funeral Home in Sioux Center on August 3 at 9:30 AM. For those who wish to attend, a funeral service will follow at 10:30 AM with Rev. Ben Cuthbert officiating. Interment will follow the ceremony in Memory Gardens Cemetery. The family prefers memorials be given to Crown Pointe.

Phyllis Joy was born at home in Matlock, Iowa, on December 19, 1927, the daughter of Rev. John and Jeanette (Bogaard) TeSelle. At age 8, the family moved to Firth, Nebraska, where she spent the rest of her childhood. She finished high school at the Northwestern Academy in Orange City, Iowa, and graduated in 1945. She attended Central College in Pella, Iowa, where she graduated with a BA in Music. There she met Herman Clemens, who attended Central College following his service in the South Pacific during World War II. The two of them were married in Firth, Nebraska, on September 6, 1951.

Following graduation from college, she taught music in several school systems until she and Herm made their first home in Primghar, Iowa, in 1954, where she taught music and Herm was high school principal. In 1957, they moved to Sioux Center, Iowa, where Herm served as high school principal and Phyllis was at home raising their growing family, which eventually consisted of five children. During those years, she found meaningful and enjoyable outlets teaching adult women’s Sunday school, teaching piano and voice lessons, and directing the Sioux County Farm Bureau Women’s Chorus, where she developed cherished friendships. She was a member of Centerpoint Church. In 1977, she returned to school and obtained her master’s degree in Learning Disabilities from the University of South Dakota and taught as a resource room instructor at MOC-FV until her retirement in 1993. In their retirement, she and Herm enjoyed a fair amount of travel. As their children left home and married, they enjoyed their expanding family and grandchildren. Herm passed away in May of 2010 after 58 years of marriage. In 2013, Phyllis moved into Crown Pointe, where she received wonderful care in her final years.

Phyllis had a gregarious personality. She loved to talk and laugh. She had strong opinions and enjoyed spirited discussions. She was a devoted wife and mother, and an intensely loyal supporter of her children. Most importantly, she loved the Lord and had a deep faith in Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Her greatest legacy, by God’s grace, is having passed that on to her children and the next generations.

Phyllis is survived by her five children and their spouses: Jim and Sharla Clemens of Orange City; Lou Ann Amodeo of Durham, NC; John and Karleen Clemens of St. Paul, MN; Rob Clemens of Sioux Center; Cris and Jiri Novak of Orange, CA; 14 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother James TeSelle, sisters Muriel Graff and Amy Sheldon, seven half-brothers and sisters, and daughter-in-law Karol Clemens.