Individual Details

Birth

Twin

Death

Irma Arline Balster

Memorial services were held Jan. 17 for Irma Arline Balster, 63, in Denver, Colo.
Ms. Balster died Dec. 24 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Denver, Colo.
Arline was born Oct. 31, 1923, in Castle Grove Township, the daughter of Lorenz and Anna Heiken Balster. She graduated with honors with the class of 1941 from the Monticello High School, and was vice president of the class. Arline taught at a rural school in Castle Grove Township before her college education at University of Dubuque, and graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor of music degree. She taught music at the Wellman (Iowa) high school and at Fulton High School in Atlanta, Ga. While in Atlanta she played French horn with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for eight years. Arline then worked for General Motors in Denver, Colo., and Oakland, Calif. Since 1967, she worked for the Sundance Oil Co. in Denver, Colo.
Arline was an enthusiastic biker and a member of the Bicycle Touring Club of Denver, Colo. In 1972, she placed second in The Great Commuter Race in Denver, Colo., one minute slower than a car and 22 minutes faster than a city bus on the same run to downtown Denver. In 1976, she rode the Virginia portion of the Transcontinental Bicycle route. She received her 100 miles a day badge in Colorado. In 1982, she went on a bike tour of China with the Bicycle Touring Club of Denver, Colo.
Arline was preceded in death by her parents and her twin sister, Pauline. Surviving are three sisters, Margaret Sattler of Bellflower, Calif. , Frieda Brockschmidt of Cary, Ill., and Hilda Grings of Los Angeles, Calif. ; two brothers, George Balster of Coggon and Marion Balster of Carson, Calif. , and a number of nieces and nephews.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society.