Ethel M. (Keapproth) O'Connor 1917-2006

OCONNOR, PURVIS, KEAPPROTH, GUSTAFSON, HEITZMAN, SWEIGER, BASE

Posted By: Cheryl Moonen (email)
Date: 1/19/2015 at 16:51:42

Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA) - Thursday, May 25, 2006

DYERSVILLE, Iowa - Ethel M. O'Connor, 89, of Dyersville, died Monday, May 22, 2006, at Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque, following a brief illness.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday at St. Francis Xavier Basilica, Dyersville, with the Rev. Jerry Kopacek officiating. Burial will be in St. Francis Cemetery. Friends may call from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Kramer Funeral Home, Dyersville, where there will be a rosary at 7:30 p.m. Friends also may call from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

She was born on March 7, 1917, in Moss Bank, Saskatchewan, Canada, daughter of Herman and Grace (Purvis) Keapproth. She moved with her family to Bancroft when she was five years old.

She married Robert O'Connor on May 11, 1935, in Lake City; he preceded her in death in 1990. They resided in Fort Dodge and Rudd for many years before retiring and moving to Dyersville in 1976. Mrs. O'Connor and her husband owned and managed Rudd Sausage Products Inc. prior to their retirement.

She was a member of the Mercy Hospital Auxiliary and Catholic Daughters of the Americas.

Ethel enjoyed quilting, sewing and gardening.

Surviving are three daughters, Shirley (Al) Heitzman and Debra (Jeffrey) Gustafson, both of Dubuque, and Barb (Jerry) Sweiger, of Bella Vista, Ark.; nine grandchildren, David, Jim and Joe (Shelly) Heitzman, Mary (Tim) Shellberger, Ann (Tim) Gillespie, Pat (Elaine) Sweiger, Mike (Jolaine) Sweiger, Elisabeth (Jeff) Wagner and Katie (Charlie) Hager; seven great-grandchildren; and a sister, Betty Base, of Duluth, Minn.

She also was preceded in death by two sisters; five brothers; two grandsons, Robert and Timothy Sweiger; and a great-grandson, Charles Shellenberger.

Memorials are preferred to St. Francis Xavier Basilica and Dubuque Visiting Nurses Association.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.kramerfuneral.com.