Dolores June (Bowman) Hollopeter, 11 Jun 1930 - 28 Aug 2021

HOLLOPETER, BOWMAN, GERARD, GRAY, KIRKPATRICK, SWIM

Posted By: Sarah Witte (email)
Date: 9/2/2021 at 11:00:20

Dolores Hollopeter, 91, of Victor, died on Saturday, August 28, 2021, at Brooklyn Community Estates in Brooklyn, Iowa.

A funeral service will be held at 10:00 am on Friday, September 3, 2021, at the Smith Funeral Home in Victor. Interment will be in Victor Memorial Cemetery. A luncheon will follow at the Victor American Legion.

Visitation will begin at 1:00 pm on Thursday, September 2, 2021, at the Smith Funeral Home in Victor and her family will receive friends from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm.

Memorials may be designated to the Victor Old Fashioned Christmas and mailed in care of the Smith Funeral Home, PO Box 485, Victor, IA 52347. Memories and condolences may be shared with Dolores’ family online at www.smithfh.com.

Dolores June Bowman was born the daughter of Will Clay Bowman and Amy Lucille (Gerard) Bowman on June 11, 1930. She was raised on the family farm in Pilot Township near Lake Iowa and attended country school. She graduated in 1948 from Victor High School in Victor, Iowa. She attended Paris Academy of Beauty Culture in Cedar Rapids.

Dolores was united in marriage to John Franklin “Frank” Hollopeter on September 6, 1952, at the Victor United Methodist Church. They were blessed with six children, Allen, Terry, Leah Ann, Laurel, Marcia, and Sherrill. Frank served in the United States Army during the Korean Conflict and returned home to farm near Ladora. Dolores assisted Frank in the farming operation. She was a longtime hair stylist of over 50 years and had worked at Amana Refrigeration for 25 years. Dolores was a member of the Ohio Methodist Church, Ladora Saddle Club, was a lifetime member of the HLV Booster Club, and was a charter member of the Mid-Iowa Driving Association.

Dolores loved life on the farm and taking care of livestock, especially her horses. She tended to her large garden and canned tomatoes, beans, salsa, sweetcorn, and her famous horseradish she provided at the Old-Fashioned Victor Christmas. Her enjoyments were reading the Cedar Rapids Gazette every morning, doing word searches and crossword puzzles, watching sports on TV, especially men’s and women’s Iowa Hawkeye basketball games, attending her grandchildren’s sporting and school activities, and caring for her beloved cats. She was known for doing pin curls and permanents. She will be remembered as a spitfire, for being a hard-worker, and for the strong love of her family.

Dolores is survived by her children, Allen (Kristin) Hollopeter of Deep River, IA, Terry Hollopeter of Iowa City, IA, Leah Ann (Derry) Gray of Victor, Laurel Hollopeter of Victor, Marcia (Eric) Kirkpatrick of Nichols, IA, and Sherrill (Ed) Swim of Tiffin, IA; 10 grandchildren; 12 great grandchildren; and a sister-in-law, Vera Bowman of Williamsburg, IA.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Frank Hollopeter on January 9, 2010; and a brother, Howard Bowman.

Published on the Smith Funeral Home website, an abbreviated version was published in The Gazette on August 31, 2021.