RODAMAKER, Gertrude Edna (Towne) 1916-2002

RODAMAKER, STRUNK, TOWNE

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 1/25/2009 at 11:22:40

Gertrude Rodamaker, age 86, a resident of 501 8th Avenue, Charles City, died Wednesday, June 19, 2002, at her home. Funeral services for Gertrude Rodamaker will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 22, 2002, at the Hauser Funeral Home in Charles City. Monsignor Stanley Hayek, pastor of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery.

Friends may call at the Hauser Funeral Home from 9 a.m. until service time on Saturday, June 22, 2002, with St. Catherine's Circle reciting the Rosary at 9:30 a.m.

Gertrude Edna Towne Rodamaker was born May 4, 1916, at Plymouth, the only child of Ralph and Edna (Strunk) Towne. "Honey", as her family and friends knew her, later moved to Mason City where she graduated from Mason City High School in 1934. To quote her high school yearbook, "A scholar and an athlete a combination hard to beat". This was a quote Gertrude was always very proud of. Gertrude was working as a bank teller when she met Leo P. Rodamaker of Charles City. On February 1, 1936, they were united in marriage. Gertrude was an accomplished seamstress, an excellent cook, a loving mother and grandmother, and a devoted wife of 50 years who cared for her husband through a long illness until his death in 1986. They had raised registered shorthorn cattle and owned and operated Rodamaker Feeds, which Gertrude continued operating until ill health forced her retirement in 1994.

Living family members include a son, Ralph Rodamaker and wife Ina Claire of Mill Creek, Wash.; two daughters, Joanie Mincks of Charles City, and Mary Johnson of Iowa Falls; 5 grandchildren, Leo Mincks and wife Lisa (Schluter) of Ames, Marie Mincks of Tokyo, Japan, Roby Winterink and wife Tara, and Michael Winterink and fiancŽe Carla Berding of Charles City, and David Johnson of Iowa Falls; three great grandchildren, Amanda and Katelynn Winterink, and Michael Thomas Mincks; and her cat, Calloway.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband in 1986, and a grandson, Jody Leo Winterink.