FERN JEANETTE HUPKE WESTPHAL (1924 - 2002)

WESTPHAL, HUPKE, MATT, CRAIG, HARDEMAN, PADGETT, ZAWISTOWSKI

Posted By: County Coordinator (email)
Date: 5/15/2020 at 08:22:02

Fern Jeanette Hupke Westphal, 78, unexpectedly died at home in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Nov. 21, 2002.

A funeral mass is being held at 11 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 25, with the family receiving friends the hour before, at St. Jude Catholic Church in Chattanooga. Burial is at the Chattanooga National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or Hospice to honor Mrs. Westphal's longtime commitment to charity.

She was born on January 10, 1924 in Danbury, Iowa to Joseph and Jeanette Matt Hupke.

She attended Mapleton High School in Mapleton, Iowa. After graduation she attended St. Joseph School of Nursing in Sioux City, Iowa, where she graduated in 1946. She moved to Cherokee, Iowa and was employed at Sioux Valley Memorial Hospital in general nursing and later as Nursing Educator Coordinator.

While in Cherokee, she was a member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Catholic Daughters and the Church Guild. She was a member of the Cherokee County Cancer Society and served as Cherokee County's "Reach to Recovery" Coordinator for 20 years. She served also as Volunteer "Lifeline" Coordinator at the hospital and was a Hospice Volunteer.

Fern moved to Chattanooga in 1997 and became an active member of the community through her membership at St. Jude Catholic Church. She was a member of the Catholic Ladies of Charity and continued her lifetime of community service as a volunteer at their re-sale house and at the Chattanooga Food Bank.

She was preceded in death by her husband of forty-eight years, Lawrence Westphal, her parents, her sister and brother-in-law, Helen and Tom Craig, and her brother, james Hupke.

She is survived by her daughters Sheryl Hardeman of Hixson, Tennessee and Caroyl Padgett and husband Tom of Virginia Beach, Virginia and her son, John Westphal of Elgin, Illinois. Her sister and brother-in-law Ruth and Mike Zawistowski and sister-in-law Mrs. Regine Hupke, all of Des Moines, Iowa. She has two grandchildren, Susan hardeman of Hixson and Scott Padgett of Virginia Beach.

Source: Former Cherokee County Historical Society Scrapbook. Obituary dated Monday, November 25, 2002.