Orvick, Leona Mae (1926-2019)

ORVICK, RUITER, GRUIS, LUTTRING, HAUGE, GREEN, NASH, KESSLER

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 12/13/2019 at 13:57:21

Leona Mae Orvick
July 6, 1926 - September 18, 2019

Leona Mae Orvick, 93, of Forest City, died on Wednesday, September 18, 2019, at MercyOne North Iowa Hospice in Mason City.

Leona Mae Ruiter was born on July 6, 1926, in Merservey, Iowa, to Fred and Tina (Gruis) Ruiter. She attended school in Meservey. On January 28, 1947, she married Hubert Dale Orvick in Des Moines, Iowa.

First and foremost, Mom loved her role as a mom and wife. After they married in 1947, Mom and Dad lived in various places in Clear Lake. Then, in May of 1950, they moved to the Anges Jacobs farm south of Forest City where they farmed from March of 1950 to August of 1976. In December of that year, they decided to move into Forest City, making their home at 345 South 8th Street.

Leona took a job at the Winnebago Lampshade Factory, a totally different experience for her. She had loved her life on the farm, and she found working in a factory disconcerting. She didn’t realize, for example, that when the bell rang, she was supposed to take a break. She just kept on working. A few months later, she accepted a job at the Forest City high school cafeteria which she held from 1976 to 1985, a noteworthy move for her. During this time, Mom earned a GED. She treasured education, and after coming home from work, she would study so hard. We were all so proud and happy for her at her graduation. A wonderful homemaker, she had found her niche working in the cafeteria. She made so many friends there before deciding to move on. Lastly, she took a job at Waldorf College, working in the kitchen from 1985 until she retired in the spring of 2000. During that time, she made so many more friends with the students, especially with the exchange students. She loved the catering jobs that Waldorf did as they gave her an opportunity to decorate, a task at which she excelled.

At her surprise retirement party, she almost missed all the fun her friends had planned for her on the Lady of the Lake at Clear Lake. When Mom and Dad arrived, the paddle boat had already set sail. Nonetheless, Dad and Mom stopped a young man, asking if he could get Mom out to the Lady of the Lake on his Ski Doo, and Mom, scared to death of the water, jumped on the back, held on tight as this young man escorted her to the paddle boat. That incident alone says something about our Mom: never afraid. Our watchtower, she was, always, looking out for her family.

Leona is survived by her daughters, Sheilah Luttring, of Faribault, Minnesota, and Carmen Hauge, of Forest City; her grandsons, Chad Green, of Faribault, Minnesota, and Bryan (Shelby) Hauge, and their daughter, Kendall, of Medford, Minnesota; her brother, LuVern (Dorthy) Ruiter, of Thorton; and her sister, Maurine Nash, of The Villages, Florida. She was preceded in death by her husband, Hubert; her sons-in-law, Duane Luttring and Kent Hauge; her granddaughter, Lauri Green; her sisters, Viola Kessler and Diane Ruiter; her brother, Dale Ruiter; her parents, Fred and Tina Ruiter; and her parents-in-law, George and Mable Orvick.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 A.M., Saturday, September 21, 2019, at the Cataldo Schott Funeral Chapel, 505 North Clark Street, Forest City, with Pastor Rod Hopp of Immanuel Lutheran Church officiating. Burial will follow in the Madison Township Cemetery in Forest City.

Cataldo Schott Funeral Home, Forest City, Iowa, 2019.

Winnebago Obituaries maintained by Cheryl Siebrass.
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