BREITBACH, Ida Mary (Hamilton) 1917-2014

BREITBACH, HAMILTON, JOHNSON

Posted By: K. L. Kittleson
Date: 10/5/2015 at 22:16:40

Ida Breitbach

Died: Dec. 12, 2014

Biography--

Ida Breitbach, 97, of Ridgeway Place, Waterloo, died at UnityPoint Health ‑ Allen Hospital on Friday, December 12, 2014.

Ida Mary Hamilton was born August 1, 1917 on a farm north of Winthop, Iowa, daughter of William S. and Ida Johnson Hamilton. She was the 7th child in a family of 9. Ida graduated from Winthrop Public School as valedictorian in 1935 and then received her teaching degrees from Iowa State Teachers College. She began teaching Byron #2 (a one‑room country schoolhouse northwest of Winthrop) in the fall of 1937.

She was teaching 1st grade in Quimby when she married Louis F. Breitbach on March 20, 1940. Her teaching days were over because at that time school boards did not hire married females. However, the war came and in four years there was a teacher shortage. Ida went back to teaching at Prairie Center in Delaware County and she took their three-year-old son with her. They lived in Manchester then, but moved to Waterloo the following summer.

She spent the next 15 years as a stay-at-home-mom with their four boys and one girl. During that time she took a night class, a Saturday class or correspondence course, anything that would give her hours toward her BA degree. Finally, in 1969 she had accumulated enough hours to graduate. She claimed it would take reams of paper to account for the experiences she and her family had during those at-home years.

Ida went back to teaching in Cedar Rapids at St. Matthew’s Elementary School when their youngest boy started kindergarten. After they moved back to Waterloo she taught at Jewett and Frances Grout Elementary, Waterloo; and retired from East Elementary, Independence, Iowa with her husband in 1981.

Unfortunately, their youngest boy was killed in an auto accident in February 1990; the following year in October 1991 their oldest son passed on as the result of a brain tumor.

After retirement, Ida spent most of her time sewing for the church bazaar, reading and cooking for two. She also babysat her grandchildren but when they got older they would say, “We don’t stay with you any more Gramma because you go to bed too early and you get up too early.”

She was a member of Kimball Avenue. United Methodist Church, PEO, Retired Teachers Association and Boy Scouts’ Pack 7.

She is survived by her Daughter: Mary Lou Breitbach, Independence; son: Joe (Julie) Breitbach, Waverly; son: Dan (Cheryl) Breitbach, Waverly; daughter‑in‑law: Francine Johnson, Rio Verde, AZ; daughter‑in‑law: Cindy Dunn, Cedar Rapids, IA; 10 grandchildren and 11 great‑grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Ida was preceded in death by her husband; sons, Ted and Ben; and her four brothers and three sisters.
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Services:
Monday at Kimball Ave United Methodist Church, Waterloo

Visitation:
Sunday at Locke Funeral Home

Cemetery:
Wilson Cemetery, Independence

Source: Locke Funeral Home