Ottumwa, Iowa - Annabelle Jean McFarling, 87, went peacefully to meet her Lord Saturday morning September 10, 2022 at the Ottumwa Regional Health Center. She was born December 8, 1934 in Council Bluffs, Ia., the daughter of Rev. Carroll Samuel and Cora Alice (Athey) Whitehouse.

Being the daughter of a Presbyterian pastor, Annabelle and her two sisters moved frequently to small towns around Iowa. She graduated from Hedrick High School in 1952 after moving there her senior year from Fonda, IA. She enjoyed playing 6-player basketball at both schools. She attended Iowa State College in Ames for a year. She met Allen Ward McFarling in Hedrick and they were married on June 15, 1953. They were married for 55 years until his passing in 2008. Allen was in the Air Force from 1953 to 1956, stationed in Oklahoma and England. Their first son, Steven Craig, was born in Ardmore, OK in 1954 and Gary Allen was born in Cambridge, England in 1956. Brian Eugene was born in 1960 in Ottumwa.

Ann was a stay-at-home mom until her boys reached high school age, whereupon she started working at the First Christian Church as a secretary for 13 years. Ann was a member of the National Secretaries Association (NSA) and Professional Secretaries International (PSI) where she served in various capacities, including president. She was a member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church in Ottumwa, where she was a Sunday School Superintendent, an elder and was active in women's groups, etc. She represented her church in the Ottumwa Area Fellowship of Churches (OAFC), serving as president for over 20 years, was active with King's Daughters and was education chair person for the Wapello County Cancer Society. She received the "Valiant Woman" award from Church Women United in 2004 where she was also a vice-president. She was a secretary at the Ottumwa Regional Health Foundation for eight years and then a volunteer at the gift shop after retirement.

Annabelle enjoyed reading, doing jigsaw puzzles and puzzle books, watching the Olympics, figure skating and gymnastics, following IndyCar and NASCAR, and above all, spending time with her family, church and friends.

In addition to her parents and parents-in-law, Annabelle was preceded in death by her husband Allen and her sister Betty. Surviving is her sister Ione of Livingston, TX; her sons Steven McFarling (Bonnie) of Urbandale, IA; Gary McFarling (Julie) of Clive, IA; Brian McFarling (Jean) of Ottumwa, nine grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, two sisters-in-law and numerous nieces and nephews.

Ann has donated her body to the University of Iowa Hospitals for medical science.

Visitation will be at 2:00 pm with a Memorial Service at 3:00 pm on Sunday September 25, 2022 at the Westminster Presbyterian Church at 1901 W. Second Street in Ottumwa, with dessert and fellowship following the service. Online condolences may be left for the family at sinnottfunealhome.com or the Sinnott Funeral Home Facebook page.

Those wishing to remember Annabelle McFarling in a special way may make gifts to the American Stroke Association in her name, or to the Westminster Presbyterian Church.