Alice Marie Conwell Shank

SHANK, CONWELL, CARRIGG, MEKOTA, ALLGOOD, FARFAN

Posted By: Tara (email)
Date: 5/29/2009 at 13:53:41

Alice Marie (Conwell) Shank peacefully passed away on Sunday, August 17th at 10:13 AM.

She was born in Iowa City, IA on February 13th, 1940 to Raymond and Marie (Carrigg) Conwell. She graduated from City High School in 1958 and attended the University of Iowa. She married Robert Shank at St. Mary’s Church in Iowa City on October 10th, 1959. Her 3 daughters are Beth (Shank) Mekota of North Liberty, IA, Debra (Shank) Allgood of Wind Lake, WI, and Katherine (Shank) Farfan of North Liberty, IA. Her 5 grandsons are Lance and Ryan Mekota, Matthew and Nicholas Allgood, and Adam Farfan. Her siblings are David Conwell of Kalona, IA, John Conwell of West Bend, WI, Joe Conwell of Chester, NJ, and Mary Conwell of Iowa City, IA.

She was employed by the University of Iowa in the Physics Department for 22 years until her retirement. She was in high demand due to the intricate skills she developed using a program called Tech. This program was used to create formulas and equations for publications, theses, research papers, and books in the field of physics. She also assisted Dr. James Van Allen, and he stated it was a catastrophe when she retired in 1999. Her editing skills, mastery of the English language, and knowledge of physics made her a great asset to the department.

She loved flowers and gardening and had 120 different daylilies at her home, knowing each by name. She was intelligent, funny, and a great cook. She made beautiful crafts and flower arrangements. Everything she did, she did with perfection. She enjoyed helping people and often gave to charities. She was always there for her family and will be greatly missed.