Nilles, Monica Marie Crawford (1932-2022)

NILLES, CRAWFORD, DUFFY, EGGERS, BERGLUND, MATTHIES, MERSCH, SHERMAN

Posted By: Debbie Greenfield (email)
Date: 1/9/2023 at 12:12:22

Daily Freeman Journal
Webster City, Iowa
October 19, 2022

Monica Nilles, 90, long-time rural Webster City resident, passed peacefully from this life on Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, at The Marian Home, Fort Dodge. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. Monday, Oct. 24, at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, Webster City. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at Foster Funeral Home in Webster City, with a 4 p.m. Rosary, followed by a Scripture Service.

Monica Marie Nilles, the daughter of James and Agnes (Duffy) Crawford, was born May 20, 1932, at St. Joseph’s Mercy Hospital in Fort Dodge. She was raised on the family farm near Barnum, where she attended Johnson Township School. The family later moved into Fort Dodge for a brief time, and then to an acreage outside of town because her dad found town-living too confining.

She attended Corpus Christi Academy and then Fort Dodge Senior High, graduating with the Class of 1949. Following high school, Monica attended Fort Dodge Junior College, where she worked for the local radio station and was president of her college sorority.

Monica began working part-time very early in life. Her first job was at Earl May in Fort Dodge while still in junior high. She then worked at Fort Dodge Appliance and later in display advertising at the Fort Dodge Messenger.

On Aug. 8, 1953, she married Robert (Bob) William Nilles at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Fort Dodge. The couple made their home on the family farm east of Webster City, where they would raise five children, host every Christmas celebration, and welcome friends and family for wonderful Sunday dinners or grand St. Patrick’s Day parties.

Monica enjoyed working outside of the home, making friends and earning “fun money” for the family. Over the years, she worked part or full-time at Ertl Hardware, Montgomery Wards, the old Hamilton County Courthouse, Hamilton County Farm Bureau, St. Thomas Aquinas School and Church, Mike Fort Accounting, and American Greetings.

She was a member of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and would tell everyone that she was blessed to be “full-blooded Irish.” She was a proud member of the “Four or More Club,” made up of young mothers of at least four or more children. For at least 50 years, she was a member of the same Bridge Club, where the ladies prayed the Rosary together before dealing the cards.

As a couple, Bob and Monica loved to dance. They never missed getting dressed up for a Knights of Columbus formal dance. As a family, they enjoyed trips to Clear Lake and the Iowa State Fair. They were part of a close-knit group of friends, enjoying picnics, house parties, and camping trips together over the decades. When their children went to Iowa State and started bringing home friends, those young Iowa Staters became life-long friends of the entire family.

Monica is survived by four children: Jim (Deb) Nilles, Newton; Rita (Delbert) Eggers, Webster City; Dennis (Gina) Nilles, Webster City; and Lori (Mark) Berglund, Dayton; five grandchildren; David (Shawnae) Nilles, Newton; Amy (Derek) Matthies, Sioux City; Samantha Nilles, Rochester, MN; Scott Nilles, Belle Plaine; and Jake Nilles, Appleton, WI; and two great-grandchildren, Maggie and Henry Matthies, Sioux City.

She is also survived by: one sister, Marcy Mersch, Fort Dodge; and two sisters-in-law, Kathleen Sherman, Fort Dodge; and Patty Nilles, Webster City, and several nieces and nephews.

Monica was preceded in death by: her parents; her husband, Robert, in 1997; son Dan in 2019; three brothers-in-law, and one nephew.

Life also gave Monica a number of stepgrandchildren and stepgreat-grandchildren, each of whom was warmly welcomed into her family. She was always happy to have another person at the table. She would rather have tons of left-overs than leave one person without something wonderful to eat.

The family would like to thank the loving and professional care of the entire staff at the Marian Home. Mom made many friends at the Marian Home and found great comfort spending time in the Chapel and outdoor Prayer Garden.

Memorials may be left to the discretion of the family.