Mary L. Lodholz

GERSTENBERGER, LODHOLZ, LULOFF, RUGGER, STEGGALL

Posted By: Cindy (email)
Date: 12/2/2021 at 18:49:09

Mary L. Lodholz, 93, of Hazleton, Iowa died on Friday evening, January 10, 2020 at her home with her family of Large B Cell Lymphoma.

Memorial Mass of the Resurrection: 10:30 A.M. Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Oelwein, with Rev. Paul C. McManus officiating.

Visitation: 4:00 to 7:00 P.M. Friday at the Jamison-Schmitz Funeral Home in Oelwein and for one hour before the service at the church on Saturday.

C.D.A. Rosary: 4 P.M. Friday at the funeral home.

Parish Scripture Service: 7 P.M. Friday at the funeral home.

Final Resting Place: St. Mary Catholic Cemetery, Hazleton, Iowa.

A Memorial Fund has been established for Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Unity Point Hospice and Fontana Park.

online obituary at www.jamisonschmitzfuneralhome.com

Mary Leota Gerstenberger was born August 17, 1926 in Hazleton, Iowa, the daughter of Leo Henry & Hazel June (Steggall) Gerstenberger. She was raised in Hazleton with her two sisters; Roberta Mathilda and Rose Marie. She attended St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Hazleton until she left for nurse’s training in Clinton after she graduated from Hazleton High School in the class of 1944. Mary received her registered nurse degree from St. Joseph’s Catholic Hospital in 1947 where she continued to work for one year. She then moved to Chicago and worked as a nurse anesthetist and surgical nurse at St. Mary of Nazareth Catholic Hospital. In 1949 she moved to Wausau, Wisconsin and worked as a nurse anesthetist and surgical nurse at Wausau Memorial Hospital where she met her husband, Peter. They were united in marriage on September 4, 1954 in Berlin Township, Wisconsin. They shared 63 years of marriage until Peter’s death from bone cancer on March 8, 2017. Mary and Peter had two sons; John William born in 1955 and Leo Chadwick born in 1958. Although they only had two natural sons, she and Peter acquired many others throughout the years. Her boys, as she called them, helped celebrate many Earth Days at the farm and were important in making it what it is today. Mary and Peter moved to the Ankeny/Des Moines area in 1956 were she worked as a nurse at Lutheran Hospital until 1964 and the USDA research lab in Ankeny until her retirement in 1987. Upon retirement, she and Peter moved back to her family farm near Hazleton where they remained until their deaths. Once back in Hazleton, they continued attending St. Mary’s Catholic Church until it closed in 2005, at which time they transferred to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Oelwein. Mary was a longtime member of the Women’s Relief Corp. She was an active member in the Catholic Daughters of the Americas and served as Regent from 1995-1997. During her lifetime she traveled the United States with her family. In later life, she broadened her travel experience with many trips to Europe with Peter and to China with Leo.

Mary is survived by her Son: Leo Lodholz of Des Moines and many Nieces & Nephews.

Mary was preceded in death by her parents, husband, son: John and two sisters: Roberta Luloff and Rose Marie Rugger.

SERVICES
Memorial Service

Saturday, January 18, 2020
10:30 AM

Sacred Heart Catholic Church
626 South Frederick Avenue
Oelwein, Iowa 50662