Iowa City Obituaries, February 2013

Lensing Funeral Home has been posting obituaries to the site for some time now, but I'm not sure if many people are aware of this. To make this more clear, and in order to share many of the touching obituaries I've read today and this month, I wanted to do a post that gathered all of them together.

Thank you to Lensing for continuing to upload onto the site, I will try to add more area funeral homes as I can to provide a free service to view and share obituaries for local families and funeral homes.

See Also: Iowa City Obituaries, January 2013

So here are the February obituaries as they appeared, in reverse chronological order.

Thomas T. Hoogerwerf, 77, died Monday February 25, 2013 at Odyssey House Hospice in Palm Desert, CA following a stroke. Tom was employed with Iowa & Illinois Gas and Electric, now Mid-American, for his entire career.



Daisy E. Chipman, 93, died peacefully Sunday, February 17th in Port Charlotte, Florida following a brief illness. Daisy had a wonderful sense of humor and treasured the time spent with family. Daisy was a gifted seamstress, knitter and cook.

Ina “May” Davis, 87, of Iowa City passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Tuesday February 26th, 2013. Ina enjoyed gardening, reading, and puzzle books. She was a very family oriented lady, and she was always there for her family.

John Gitaari Njue, 49, of Iowa City passed away Monday, February 25, 2013 at his home. Services and burial will take place in Chuka, Kenya.

Marilyn Brown of Iowa City passed peacefully from this earth on February 24, 2013 at her home. Marilyn’s priorities and great joys in life were her family, her friends and her church, to which she was always faithful and generous.

Iowa City artist Sara Lindberg, 83, died Friday, February 22. A celebration of her life will be held at the family home in Iowa City when the weather warms and her garden blooms.

Thomas “Tom” William Kenefick, Jr. of Iowa City died Thursday, February 21 at home following a long illness. He worked at and subsequently owned his family pharmacy, Kenefick Drug Store, est. 1911. In 1983 he moved Iowa City and continued to work at vari

James “Jim” Alfred Tolzmann passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 21, 2013. Jim, an avid blood donor and choir member, worked at 3M Company for more than thirty years and served as a board member for Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul, MN.

LaVonne Rae (Lloyd) Lilly, 81, died peacefully February 19, 2013 at Oaknoll in Iowa City. Von was devoted to her husband, Gil, their children and grandchildren. Von loved to entertain family, friends and colleagues.

Veronica "Bonnie" Power, 83, of Iowa City, died Monday, February 18, 2013 at her daughters home in Phoenix, Arizona.

Joan L. Northup, 74, of Cedar Rapids passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 14, 2013 at Living Center West in Cedar Rapids, following a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Mary Kathleen Carey Berry, 80, died peacefully Saturday, February 16, 2013 at Mercy Hospice surrounded by her family. Mary led an active life as a Registered Nurse and worked in several Iowa hospitals. She was a very caring nurse and loved Mercy Hospital

Evelyn “Evie” M. Jensen, 95, of Iowa City died Thursday, February 14 at Iowa City Mercy Hospice after a long illness. She was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church for over 70 years. She volunteered for Birthright of Iowa City for 20 years.

Vernon. C. Melberg, 92, of Iowa City died Wednesday, February 6th at his home following a brief illness. He was a member of Grace Fellowship Church and was an avid golfer, Hawkeye fan and enjoyed landscape and portrait painting.

Cynthia Lynn (Cindy) Penningroth died February 7, 2013, at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Throughout her life, Cindy was a caretaker, concerned for the well-being of family and friends alike. She was admired, respected, and loved.

Leone M. Wiitala, 93, of Iowa City passed away following a long struggle with Alzheimer’s on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at the Coralville home of her daughter, Susan Vasquez. She enjoyed cooking, gardening, needlework, and spending time with her grandsons, Gabe and Marcus.

Darlene “Nitzy” Joan (Gillette) Field passed away peacefully on February 7, 2013 at Oaknoll Retirement Residence in Iowa City as a result of Parkinson’s disease complications. Nitzy helped establish the parish nurse program at Zion Lutheran Church.

Hamedalla Abdalgadir, 58, died Thursday, February 7th at University Hospitals and Clinics. Graveside Services were held Friday, February 8th at Muslim National Cemetery in Cedar Rapids.

Louis R. Jordan, 69, of Coralville, formerly of Kewanee, IL, died Saturday Feb. 9th at 4:47 a.m. at his Coralville home. Louis was a life-long chef. He enjoyed cooking and spending time with his family. He always had a smile and a kind word for everyone.

Arnolda M. “Nolda” Kroeze, 78, of Iowa City, died unexpectedly Monday at Mercy Hospital. She married Alex E. Kroeze in 1960 in Beesd, Holland. The couple owned and operated Sand Road Orchards and were in the fruit business for many years.

Thomas H. Summy, 76, died at UIHC Tuesday, February 12th surrounded by his family. He wanted the world to know he had a great life and was very lucky to live so long.

Don enjoyed caring for his grandchildren, military history, collecting stamps and coins, looking at cars, and being outside gardening, hunting and fishing.

Moving with her family in 1937 to Iowa City at a young age, Jackie had been an Iowa City resident all of her life. She worked in the dietary department at University of Iowa Hospitals for 50 years – retiring in 1998.

Shailendra (Shail) Kumar Sahu, 66 died after a lengthy illness on February 2, 2013 at Windmill Manor surrounded by family. Shail enjoyed a career as a medical researcher at many different hospitals including in Houston, Harvard, and UIHC.

Lucy Irene Rohret, 86, of Oxford died peacefully at home on Sunday, February 3, 2013. Lucy met the love of her life, Earlis Rohret, at the age of 15 and a few years later, the two were married on August 6, 1946 in Iowa City at St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

James E. “Jim” Leu, 67, of Iowa City, was taken up to the Lord on Monday, February 4, 2013 at Mercy Hospice in Iowa City after a short illness.

Miles Hugh Bailey,90, departed this world suddenly on Tuesday, February 5 at the family farm. Although Grandpa, the metaphorical hearth of the family around which we gathered to warm our feet, has left a gaping hole, his feisty spirit expired in his element: outdoors, under the big blue Iowa sky, and in the loving arms of his eldest daughter, Margaret.

Doug Olney, 48, died peacefully Tuesday, February 5th at VAMC of complications related to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Olney served in the Iowa Army National Guard for over 30 years.