BIENFANG, Naomi 1964-2020

BIENFANG, WETTENGEL

Posted By: Volunteer73
Date: 2/18/2020 at 11:19:50

Obituary

Naomi Bienfang, 55, of Charles City, passed away February 9, 2020 at the Floyd County Medical Center from the combination of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), frontal temporal dementia and complications from PTSD.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 22, 2020 at Hauser Weishaar Funeral Home in Charles City. There will be no graveside service. A luncheon at the Columbus Club in Charles City will follow the service.

A gathering of family and friends will begin at 10:00 a.m. until the start of the service at Hauser Weishaar Funeral Home on Saturday.

Naomi was born May 14, 1964, in Waterloo to Harold and Aris (Wettengel) Bienfang. She was a 1982 graduate of Jesup High School, and 1987 graduate of Northwest Missouri State, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in music education. She later earned her Master of Science degree in environmental science from University of Northern Iowa.

After her undergraduate studies, Naomi enlisted in the United States Air Force, where she served as a clarinetist with the Strategic Air Command Band at Offutt Air Base in Omaha, Nebraska. She was also stationed in Germany for three years with the United States Air Force Band in Europe. Following her discharge from active duty, Naomi enlisted with the 185th Iowa Air Guard in Sioux City, where she served as a public health technician. She was deployed twice as a guardsman to Iraq and Kuwait as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. She discharged from the Guard in 2011 as a master sergeant after 21 years of service to her country.

Outside of her military service, Naomi worked in the public health field in Kansas and Iowa. In 2010, she and her partner opened Roffman Band Instrument Service, first in Mason City and then in Charles City in 2015. Naomi worked as a repair technician, a private music instructor, and an instrumentalist. She was a very active player in northern Iowa as a member of the Mason City band, NIACC band and orchestra, Cedar River Summer Stock Theatre, and the Iowa Military Veterans Band, as well as her local clarinet choir, the UNI clarinet choir, and various other performing groups in northern Iowa area. She was also a member of several church choirs throughout the years, and a performer with the Waterloo Community Playhouse.

Naomi is survived by her partner of 16 years, Sue Roffman; father, Harold of Jesup; brother, Tim and his wife Donna, and their sons Shawn and Steven, grandniece Cloie, grandnephews Mason and Cooper, all of the Phoenix, Arizona area; as well as several uncles and many cousins.

She was preceded in death by her mother, Aris; her grandparents; and several uncles and aunts.

Naomi was a warrior with a poet’s heart and was greatly devoted to her music students throughout the years. Her memory will live on in their music.

Memorials may be directed in her name to the Floyd County Medical Center and the Floyd County Veterans Affairs office.

SOURCE: Hauser Weishaar Funeral Home