FOLDESI, Elizabeth Mary (BRANDKER) SPER

BRANDEKER, FOLDESI, LEITCH, PETERSEN, MCEVILLY, GATENSFECHTEL, SPER

Posted By: Sharon R Becker (email)
Date: 4/1/2017 at 14:57:41

Obituary ~ Elizabeth Mary (Brandeker) Foldesi
December 16, 1910 ~ January 02, 2005

The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Monday, January 03, 2005

MASON CITY — Elizabeth M. Foldesi, 94, formerly of Mason City, died Sunday (Jan. 2, 2005) at Fountain West Health Care Center in West Des Moines.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at the Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St. N.E. in Mason City. (641) 423-2372. http://www.colonialchapels.com">www.colonialchapels.com.

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The Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Thursday, January 06, 2005

MASON CITY — Elizabeth Mary (Brandeker) Foldesi, 94, a 56-year resident of Mason City, passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sunday (Jan. 2, 2005) at Fountain West Health Care Center in West Des Moines.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, 126 Third St. N.E. in Mason City.

A funeral Mass will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday at Holy Family Catholic Church, 714 N. Adams Ave. in Mason City, with Monsignor Joseph Slepicka, a long-time family friend, officiating. Burial will follow in the family plot at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Mason City.

Elizabeth was born Dec. 16, 1910, in the tiny village of Klucarky in the Trans-Carpathian Mountain region of Europe. At that time, this land was part of the sprawling Austro-Hungarian Empire that encompassed most of Central and Eastern Europe; now it is in the extreme southwestern portion of Ukraine.

Elizabeth's father was a railroad conductor and she traveled with him from border to border of the empire, learning seven different languages and experiencing dozens of ethnic cultures.

She had a brief marriage in Europe to her childhood sweetheart, which ended with his death in early 1928.

Elizabeth married Charles Michael Foldesi in Europe on Sept. 17, 1929, at the advent of World War II.

The couple emigrated to the U.S. six months later, originally living in Ohio and then relocating to several places in Iowa, beginning with a Rockford farm, before moving to Mason City in 1934.

In 1939, the family settled permanently at 13 6th St. N.E. Charles died in March 1976, and Elizabeth lived alone until May 2000, when she moved to the Des Moines area to make her home with her daughter and son-in-law, Margaret and Starr Leitch.

Elizabeth was a lifelong homemaker and a devoted member of Holy Family Catholic Church, where she belonged to St. Vincent's Circle.

She was well-known locally for her bountiful vegetable gardens and for her cooking skills, especially her German and Hungarian specialty meals as well as a variety of European-style baked goods. She took immense pleasure in the companionship of many friends, and her greatest joy in life was her family.

Surviving family members include four daughters and two sons-in-law, Dr. Barbara K. Petersen of Tampa, Fla., Margaret Therese and Starr W. Leitch of Clive, Iowa, Mary Elizabeth and Edward J. McEvilly of Sun City West, Ariz., and Veronica Ann Gatens of Green Bay, Wis.; as well as 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Michael and Elizabeth (Fechtel) Brandeker; three infant siblings; her first husband, Anthony Sper; her second husband, Charles M. Foldesi; an infant daughter, Theresa Magdalene Foldesi; her son, Karl Joseph Foldesi; and two sons-in-law, O. Keith Petersen and Melvin J. Gatens.

Memorials may be made in Elizabeth's name to Mercy Hospice, 603 E. 12th St., Des Moines, IA 50309, or to any charity of an individual's choice.

Hogan-Bremer-Moore Colonial Chapel, (641) 423-2372. www.colonialchapels.com.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2017