Rita Ann Whalen 1952-2009
LARKIN, WHALEN
Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 8/6/2009 at 19:34:43
Rita Ann Whalen
Rita A. Whalen, 57, of Waukon died Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at her home in Waukon. Funeral services were held Friday, July 3 at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon, with Fr. Joseph Schneider officiating. Burial was at St. Mary's Lycurgus Cemetery, rural Waukon. Memorials may be made to St. Mary's Lycurgus Cemetery, St. Patrick Catholic School, or St. Mary's Hanover Catholic Church. Martin Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements.
Rita Ann Whalen was born June 6, 1952 in Waukon, the daughter of Donald Aloysious and Bernadette Margaret (Larkin) Whalen. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary's Lycurgus Catholic Church. Rita attended Lycurgus rural elementary school and graduated from St. Patrick High School in Waukon in 1970. She went on to study accounting at Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar.
After schooling, Rita worked first at Veterans Memorial Hospital and then for Mark Mauss Motors and Pladsen Motors, all in Waukon. The past 27 years she has been the secretary and bookkeeper at Torkelson Motors in Waukon.
Rita was a very active member at her church. She was involved with the CEW program, was a recent president of ACCW through the Decorah Deanery, taught CCD classes at St. Mary's Lycurgus and St. Patrick Catholic Churches, and worked with the music programs at St. Mary's Lycurgus, St. Mary's Hanover, and St. Patrick Catholic Churches. In addition to her music involvement at churches, Rita taught guitar lessons, sang at many weddings, funerals and special occasions throughout the area, and was a member of the Great River Chapter of Sweet Adelines.
Rita liked to travel, taking trips to visit relatives as well as tours to different parts of the country, including an annual visit for the past 15 years to Grand Marais Resort in northern Minnesota. Rita loved spending time with children, and they loved spending time with her, especially her nieces and nephews, who enjoyed yearly visits to pick strawberries and adventures in the backyard raspberry patch with their Aunt Rita. She also enjoyed collecting spoons, dolls, and coins. Her dog, Buddy, was a constant companion at the house and often went with Rita on errands and walks around town.
Survivors include her mother, Bernadette Whalen of Waukon; five brothers, Patrick (Karen) Whalen of Lansing, Thomas (Laurie) Whalen of Dawsonville, GA, Joseph (Tina) Whalen of Crawfordsville, Jerry (Kris) Whalen of Eugene, OR, and Dennis Whalen of Iowa City; and numerous nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and cousins.
Honorary casketbearers were Denise Hager, Kathy Fossum, Marian Bauercamper, Mary Regan, Barb Winters, Edna Wyninger, Marilyn Clark, Carmen Connor, Eileen Curtin, Bekki Davis, Joan Running, Linda Burke, and members of the CEW Family. Casketbearers were Dennis Byrnes, Paul Farley, Gary Schulte, Bob Larkin, Jeff Molitor, and Francis Blake.
The Waukon Standard, July 8, 2009
Contributor is not related and has no further information.
Allamakee Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen