Champion, Margaret (1914-2008)

CHAMPION, BALLHEIMM, HARTUNG, CIVINELLI, SPYCHALA, OLTROGGE, MCKEEMAN

Posted By: Colleen Ossman (email)
Date: 6/22/2008 at 21:00:38

(South Hamilton Record-News, Jewell, Iowa, 18 Jun 2008)

Margaret Lucille Ballheim Champion, 93, died of natural causes on Friday, June 6th, 2008 at Rosewood Care Center in Inverness, Illinois. A memorial service will be held at a later date with burial following in Evergreen Cemetery in Jewell, Iowa.

Margaret was born on October 28, 1914, in Waterloo, Iowa, to Clinton Earl and Rosaline (Hartung) Ballheimm their only child to survive infancy. Her father was a master carpenter and delighted Margaret by building a marvelous marble run all the way down the stairs in their two story house. The family moved to LaPorte City in the mide 1920's and she graduated from high school there in 1932. She went on to the Univerity of Northern Iowa, graduating in three years with a teaching degree in math and Latin. While there, she was a member of the Pi Phi Omega sorority and frequently entertained her sorority sisters by performing on the piano. She did her first year of teaching in Galva, Iowa and then returned home to care for her mother during her final illness.

She met her future husband, Robert Hikes Champion, in Jewell during the record-breaking heat of the 4th of July weekend in 1936. They were married September 24, 1939 and lived in and around Waterloo during the early years of their marriage. A fiesta wedding shower given for Margaret inspired a lifelong passion for collecting the bright pottery dishes.

Bob and Margaret had four children: Robert, Mary, Jane and Carol Lea. In 1948 they took up farming just east of Jewell and raised their family there on the farm. In 1956, Margaret returned to work at Morey's Dime Store in Jewell, then was employed at the National Animal Disease Laboratory in Ames as a laboratory technician where she worked until her retirement at age 65. In 1972, she and bob remodeled the Jewell Bakery building on Main Street as an apartment and moved in to enjoy the conveniences of town living.

Margaret and Bob enjoyed their retirement splitting their time between Jewell and Sun City, Arizona. They were avid golfers, enjoyed traveling and spending time with their children. After Bob's death in 1994, Margaret moved into the Chicago area to be closer to three of her children but made frequent visits to Kansas City to see her fourth child, Carol Lea and family. She was an excellent cook and baker, making some of the best pie crust and chocolate cake around! She enjoyed playing all kinds of card games from bridge to cribbage and everything in between. Margaret is survived by her four children: Robert and wife, Dian, of Sebastian FL; Mary and husband, Ron Civinelli, of Inverness, IL; Jane and husband, Jim Spychala, of Fox Lake, IL and Lea and husband, Fred Oltrogge, of Overland Park, KS. She leaves seven grandchildren: Eric Champion, Nicole Champion, Dario Civinelli, Tony, and wife Kim, Spychala, Mike and wife, Mandy, Spychala, Kendall and husband Mike McKeeman, and Kelsey Oltrogge; and two great grandchildren, Jacob and Isabella Spychala.