Our Commitment to You

We are focused on providing support, compassion, information, and direction to all members of our community, their families, and friends who are dealing with loss and grief.

photo
Joseph T. Reimers Owner, Funeral Director
photo
Marcus J. Soderstrum Funeral Director
photo
Lyle Jensen Funeral Director
photo
Matt Ringgenberg Funeral Director
photo
Anne L. Schmitt Funeral Director
photo
Savannah Preul Prearrangement Specialist
photo
Colleen Posegate Office Manager - Story City
photo
Sam Elsner Funeral Assistant
photo
Jean Bremer Funeral Assistant
photo
Terry Thompson Funeral Assistant
photo
Len Thiede Funeral Assistant
photo
Harold Thompson Funeral Assistant
photo
Dennis Anderson Funeral Assistant
photo
Roger Engen Funeral Assistant (Retired)
photo
Harris Twedt Jr. Funeral Assistant (Retired)

Joseph T. Reimers

Owner, Funeral Director
photo

Joe is a 2005 graduate of Humboldt High School, a 2007 graduate of Kirkwood Community College and a 2010 graduate of the Des Moines Area Community College of Mortuary Science. Joe began working at Adams Funeral Home in 2007 and became a Licensed Funeral Director in 2011. 

Joe is a proud member of the Ames Noon Rotary Club and the Main Street Cultural District, serving on the business improvement committee. In his free time Joe enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Joe is married to Katie (Christensen) Reimers, who is also from Humboldt. They have a four childen Ivy, Scout and twins, Tripp and Olive. 

Marcus J. Soderstrum

Funeral Director
photo

Marcus James Soderstrum was born October 28, 1965 to Dennis and Karen Soderstrum in Story City, Iowa.

He graduated from Roland-Story High School in 1984, Iowa State University with a degree in Finance in 1988 and Worsham College of Mortuary Science in Chicago in 1990. Marc and Michelle lived in Ottumwa from 1990 and moved to Roland in 1995.

Marc is a member of Bergen Lutheran Church in Roland, Story City Kohinoor Masonic Lodge, vice president of the Roland Area Development Corporation and is currently vice president of the school board for the Roland-Story Community School District. He is also involved with helping out at Roland-Story sporting events for football and basketball.

Marc's wife, Michelle, is a second grade teacher at Roland-Story Elementary School. They have three children, Madison, who will be attending John Hopkins in Baltimore in May; McKinzie, a junior at Iowa State University; and Mia, a junior at Roland-Story High School.

Lyle Jensen

Funeral Director
photo

Lyle joined the team at Adams Funeral Home as a Licensed Funeral Director in 2020. He says he became interested in the funeral industry at an early age. 

"It was a profession that intrigued me as far back as when I was in junior high school," Lyle says. "I even tried to work at the funeral home when I was in school, but I was too young. I finally got an opportunity at the end of my freshman year of college and it confirmed that this is what I wanted to do."

Lyle is a native of Greenfield, Iowa. He graduated from Greenfield High School in 1988, then from Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge in 1990. In 1991, Lyle graduated from Kansas City Kansas Community College of Mortuary School. He worked for Peterson Funeral Home in Newton, Kansas, before moving to Osage, Iowa, in 1992. He started and completed his internship at the Champion Funeral Home in Osage, and then became a Licensed Funeral Director and worked there for more than 27 years before joining Adams Funeral Home. In addition to being a Licensed Funeral Director, Lyle is a certified Pre-need Sales Agent.

He appreciates the personal connection he gets to make in his work.

"Getting to meet the different families we serve and learning about the life of their loved one and the accomplishments they made is special," Lyle says. "We also get to learn about different customs and beliefs and that helps us to provide the best experience possible. It is satisfying to meet the needs and exceed the expectations of the families we serve."

Lyle is married to Stacey Jensen, who is originally from Coulter, Iowa. They have adult twin children, Caitlin and Tyler. Lyle and Stacey are huge Iowa State Cyclone fans and feel like living in Ames offers a little piece of Heaven in Iowa. In addition to rooting on the Cyclones, Lyle and Stacey enjoy spending time with family, traveling, and watching and rooting for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Matt Ringgenberg

Funeral Director
photo

Matt joined the Adams Funeral Home team as a Licensed Funeral Director in 2018. His career in the industry started on a lawn mower.

"I started working for the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in 1994 when I was just 15 years old," Matt says of the facility in his hometown of Carroll, Iowa. "I was hired to mow the lawn, but quickly started doing other things around the funeral home. By the time I was 16, I started helping with visitations and funeral services. I loved the work and continued to work part-time at funeral homes in Carroll, Sac City, Des Moines and Kansas City before finally enrolling in mortuary school."

Matt was born in Lake City, Iowa and grew up in Carroll where he graduated from high school. Matt worked as a Critical Care Paramedic for many years before attending mortuary school at DMACC. He served his internship back where it all started: at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home. Matt says he loves his work.

"It is an honor to be able to walk families through the funeral process and know that they are trusting me with their loved one," he says. "I also enjoy building relationships with clergy and the community."

In addition to being a Licensed Funeral Director, Matt has special training as a Medicolegal Death Investigator and has worked in that capacity in Hamilton and Wright counties in the past. He also holds an insurance license and is endorsed to sell preneed funeral policies.

Matt has one daughter, Kayin. In his freetime, he loves to spend time outdoors on his motorcycle or in a boat on the lake. He loves living in central Iowa and serving the Ames and Boone communities.

 

Anne L. Schmitt

Funeral Director
photo

Anne has been with Adams Funeral Home since April of 2012. She has been assisting families with their death care needs and has been a licensed Iowa Funeral Director since 1997. Anne has a Bachelors of Science degree in Business Administration from Iowa State University and received her diploma as a Registered Nurse from St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Rochester, Minnesota. She worked as a Registered Nurse at Mary Greeley Medical Center in Ames from 1967 to 1997. Anne earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mortuary Science from the University of Minnesota in 1997.

Anne has been widowed since 1993 and has two grown sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren. She is an active member of St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Ames where she is a Eucharistic Minister and a Stephen Ministry Leader. She is also active in the Kiwanis Club of Ames. Her motto is “Let go, let God”.

Savannah Preul

Prearrangement Specialist
photo

Savannah grew up in Lake View, Iowa, where she graduated from East Sac County High School.  She furthered her education with an Associates Degree from Hawkeye Community College and then graduated in 2017 from the DMACC Mortuary Science Program.

In July of 2018, Savannah became licensed in Iowa to assist families with prearranging and prefunding their funerals. As our full time Prearrangement Specialist, Savannah is available to offer information and education to families in all of our surrounding communities.

Savannah currently resides in Cambridge, Iowa with her fiancé, Jesse Preul, and their dog Zeke!

Colleen Posegate

Office Manager - Story City
photo

Sam Elsner

Funeral Assistant
photo

Jean Bremer

Funeral Assistant
photo

Jean “Jeanie” (Jacobs) Bremer has been a resident of Story County for 56 years, living in the Ames/Gilbert area. She has been married to Larry Bremer for 34 years. They have two children, Josh and Justine. Jean has worked in health care and customer related jobs for 40 years. She is a hospice volunteer, former volunteer fire fighter EMT and has been involved in the prison ministry Project Angel Tree for 16 years. Jean has worked in the funeral business since 2005. Her words to live by, “Love one another as God has loved you.” She lives for helping people, “That’s what I do best!”

Terry Thompson

Funeral Assistant
photo

Terry is a native of Humboldt, IA. He graduated from Humboldt High School in 1978.

He was a 3-sport letterman. Track was his main sport where he was one of the top sprinters in Iowa.

Terry then attended Iowa State University and was a member of the track team and later a coaching assistant for the Cyclones.

Terry became a Paramedic in 1990 working in Boone and later for Mary Greeley. He retired in 2015 after 25 years of service in EMS.

Terry is a national recognized track & field official with over 45 years of experience. He has been the head starter for Iowa State since 1984. He is a starter at the Drake Relays and has been selected for 12 NCAA Championship events. He has started over 40 Conference Championships in the Big 8, Big 12, Big 10 and Missouri Valley Conferences.

He was inducted into the Iowa High School Athletic Association Officials Hall of Fame in 2007 and the Iowa Association of Track Officials Hall of Fame in 2017.

Terry joined the staff at Adams Funeral Home in August of 2018.

Terry currently live in Ames with his wife Annette.

Len Thiede

Funeral Assistant
photo

Len was born and raised on a farm in Wisconsin. In 1972, he moved to Ames to accept a teaching position in the Ames Community School District. A few of the highlights of his 32 year teaching and coaching career were his introduction of the "Special Olympics" program to Ames; being named Iowa Elementary Physical Educator of the Year, and most recently, being inducted into the Ames High Athletic Hall of Fame for his long-time success as the girls tennis coach.

Len and his wife, Pat, are active members of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ames. They are the parents of two daughters, Jennifer, of Mankato, Minnesota and Nicole, of Ames. Len and Pat also have one granddaughter, Kya.

Len enjoys all things tennis, traveling and biking. He really likes working with people of all ages and his personal motto is: "A person may forget some of the things you tell them, but they will never forget how you made them feel!"

Harold Thompson

Funeral Assistant
photo

Harold was raised on a farm just south of Story City. He graduated from Story City High School and received his B.A. in education from the University of Northern Iowa. He taught at South Hamilton for three years before beginning his banking career at Randall-Story State Bank. Harold retired in 2008 after 38 years.

Harold married his high school sweetheart, Janice, in 1965, and they have two married children and five grandchildren. Harold and Janice are members of Elim Lutheran Church in Randall. Harold still serves on the bank Board of Directors, enjoys attending his grandchildren's activities, traveling and fishing. Harold also volunteers as a driver for senior citizens through RSVP. Harold and Janice enjoy square dancing.

Harold started helping part-time as a funeral assistant for Soderstrum Funeral Home in April of 2014. His motto is, "Enjoy each day with those around you!"

Dennis Anderson

Funeral Assistant
photo

Dennis was born and raised on a farm southwest of Stratford, Iowa. He graduated from Stratford Community Schools. He began working in Ames in 1966 at the ISU Power Plant for 8 1/2 years before going to Alliant Energy for 31 plus years. He retired from full-time work in 2006.

Denny married Trudie Gibb and together they have five children, Victoria, Denise, Wendy, Scott and Tammy. They have given us eight grandchildren, Amanda, Matthew, C.O.R.E., Justin, Paige, Keaton, Jalena and Charlize.

Denny moved to Ames in 1970 and is a member of First United Methodist Church and the men's group there, and volunteers at Food at First.

He enjoys people, camping, and family.

Denny joined the staff at Adams Funeral Home in early 2017.

 

Roger Engen

Funeral Assistant (Retired)
photo

Roger started part time in funeral service in 1951. He went full time in 1959 and received a Missouri Funeral Director’s License in 1983. Roger is a lifetime resident of Story County and has lived in Ames since 1959. He was manager of Adams Funeral Home for 17 years.

Roger is now retired. His personal motto is “Treat every family with dignity and respect.”

Harris Twedt Jr.

Funeral Assistant (Retired)
photo

Harris "Pete" Twedt, Jr. farmed in the Roland area for 35 years. Pete and Vi were married in 1950 and have four children, six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He retired in 1997 and now lives in Story City. Pete assisted with visitations and funerals beginning in January of 1998. He is now retired.