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Rita E. Holmberg (1918-2018)

HOLMBERG

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 6/8/2018 at 08:12:08

Rita E. Holmberg, 100, food editor, home economist, registered dietician, author and educator, died peacefully May 28 at Bethany Retirement Home in Dubuque after a short illness. The daughter of the late William and Mary (Sullivan) Holmberg, she was born at home on South Locust Street in Dubuque on Jan. 22, 1918. After graduating from Senior Dubuque High School and Clarke College, Rita was accepted for a dietetic internship at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore, MD where she completed her training to be a registered dietician. She served at the end of World War II in the Army Women’s Medical Specialist Corps as a first lieutenant, using her dietician skills to treat sick and wounded soldiers in military convalescent facilities in North Carolina and Alabama. Over a long career as a professional home economist, magazine food editor, and author, Rita worked for Armor Foods Corp. and later McCann-Erikson Advertising in Chicago, IL, was named Food Editor for Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Des Moines, and later became head of Consumer Service in the Peavey Corp. Research Center in Minneapolis, MN. Returning to Dubuque in the mid-1970s, she worked independently for many years as a free-lance writer, food consultant, college textbook author, and adjunct instructor at Clarke University.

A lifelong parishioner of St. Raphael’s Cathedral Parish, where she served as a lector and Eucharistic minister, Rita also volunteered at the Roberta Kuhn Center and Marian Hall Infirmary at Mount Carmel motherhouse of the B.V.M. sisters. She was a volunteer and Friend of Dubuque Public Library. Her published works include Great Dishes from the Oven, a popular college textbook entitled Meal Management Today, and a personal memoir published in 2013 as By Fives to Ninety-five, plus many magazine articles and essays.

Rita is survived by one sister, Mary Walsh of Bridgeport, CT, plus 14 nephews and nieces and numerous grand- and great-grand nephews and nieces. Besides her parents, she is pre-deceased by her brothers, Father Loras Holmberg, William Holmberg and John Holmberg, and one sister, Helen Willis. Friends may pay their respects Friday, June 1, 2018 from 3-7 p.m. at Hoffman Schneider Funeral Home 1640 Main St. with a 6:30 pm Scripture Service. The funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, June 2, 2018 at 11 a.m. at St. Raphael’s Cathedral, celebrated by Rita’s nephew and godson, Msgr. Christopher Walsh of Stamford, CT. Burial will take place immediately following at Mount Olivet Cemetery with Military Honors.

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


 

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