REITER, LaVonne Irene 1927-2013
REITER, LEWIS, PREUSS, SCHAVE, ROBERTS, HARBERTS, DYER, YOST
Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 11/14/2013 at 23:57:51
[Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Friday, August 16, 2013]
LaVonne Irene Lewis Reiter, born April 25, 1927, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to Lornel Lewis and Margaret Preuss, entered Allen Hospital the first time in 1949 as a freshly graduated registered nurse, receiving her nursing degree at the Presentation School of Nursing McKennen Hospital, Sioux Falls. Before that she had served as a ll Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Cadet Nurse Corps for three years. She worked at Allen Hospital through the '50s and 60s. Her five daughters, the oldest of which died of heart disease in 1999 (Jane Ann), another who was stillborn (Pamela Margaret) were all delivered at Allen Hospital. She later became the director of nursing at Windsor Estates while bringing up four little girls and helping her (former) husband build his business.
After moving to California in 1970, she worked at the Good Samaritan and Santa Theresa hospitals in San Jose. Later, she worked as night supervisor at the 700-bed Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Santa Clara and proved her dedication to patients by crossing the picket line, enduring insults and criticism during strikes. In the early 1980s, she continued nursing at the Greenville General Hospital.
In her nursing career, she worked in the ER, the newborn premature nursery, and in the last years, she dedicated herself to the chemical dependency patients. She also served as an American Red Cross nurse. To LaVonne nursing was not just a job but a celestial calling and she never lost an opportunity to witness and tell people about Jesus.
She retired to take care of her aging mother and nursed her at home until she died at the age of 88. But even after retiring, she continued to work actively on the Crisis Line of the Contact Telephone Ministries and received the President’s Achievement Award for volunteer service as a Senior Companion three years in a row and in 2007 was recognized with the Gold Award.
She was a devoted Christian, dedicated nurse and mother, supportive friend and creatively accomplished woman in her own right. She loved her four daughters unconditionally, sacrificed much, and gave everything she could to allow them to become independent and successful women.
The last time she entered Allen Hospital was not as a nurse but a patient and she took her last breath at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013. We will join with her in celebrating her “Easter Homegoing” to be with the Lord, whom she honored and served with her loving hands and gracious spirit, during the funeral services. These will take place 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 23, at Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Home on West Ridgeway, with burial in Rosehill Cemetery, Grundy Center. Public visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Hagarty-Waychoff-Grarup Funeral Home as well as one hour before the service.
Survived by a sister, Susan Schave of Sioux Falls;, three daughters, Barbara Reiter Roberts of Berlin, Germany, Judith Harberts (Alan) of Holland, Iowa, and Jean Dyer Yost of Santa Cruz, Calif.; grandchildren Anna Petersen-Santor (Tim), Hannah Redix, and Philip, Jacob, Abigail and Eli Harberts, and Heather Dyer; and great-grandchildren Jake, Drew Santor, Ashlyn Redix.
Preceded in death by a sister, Leota Lewis, at the age of 9.
Black Hawk Obituaries maintained by Karen De Groote.
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