Sarah Eleanor Holecek
HOLECEK, PFEIFER, BECKER
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 8/6/2020 at 13:18:16
Sarah Eleanor Holecek passed away at her home near Hills, Iowa on July 25, 2020 from a sudden heart attack.
She was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on March 27, 1966. Even as a grade school student, Sarah was the girl whom students asked for advice. “We have to know what Sarah thinks about it.” She was interested in and fascinated by the interactions of people from a young age.
Sarah graduated from Linn-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa in 1984. She was interested in theater, had major parts in many of the Linn-Mar plays and participated in Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, too. Sarah graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Political Science in 1988. Upon declaring that the best theater is in the court room, Sarah enrolled at the College of Law at the University of Iowa and received her JD degree in 1991. She was editor for the Law Review at the University of Iowa College of Law. Sarah interned with the Fulbright & Jaworski law firm of Dallas, Texas. Her career included successfully arguing cases before the Iowa Supreme Court. Sarah was First Assistant City Attorney for the City of Iowa City for over 20 years until her retirement in 2014. Her family is proud of Sarah and her many accomplishments in a life cut far too short.
Whatever Sarah did, she did it ‘all out’. She cut an impressive rooster-tail on a single ‘slalom’ water ski, leaning way-y-y in to the curve and holding the rope with one hand, reaching sideways with the other to rake the glassy lake surface at her fingertips. On the slopes, she was a black diamond girl, maybe double-black diamond, but she’ll meet you at the bottom. If you rode your motorcycle with her, chances are you saw a fair bit of her back tire. She sprinkled some of that zest for life onto those around her. She was the motivating force for her whole family to learn to snow and water ski and got us up and out there so often, it was necessary to buy the equipment or go broke renting it. She lived a whirlwind life in the short time she was given and some of us were lucky enough that she shared her spark with us as we bowled, skated, golfed, kayaked, jet skied, motorcycled, hoisted a beer, and laughed with her.
She made liberal use of her sense of humor. She sang silly improvised rhymes at random times and may have left you a ‘Happy Birthday to You’ voicemail performed in a broad and unabashed lounge-singer voice. She was an accomplished attorney who amused her friends by regularly introducing herself as a manager of Taco Bell. Yet she had a warmth about her that could make people feel like they had known her for a long time, even having just met her. She will be missed by many.
Sarah was preceded in death by her brothers Mark and Jonathan Holecek. Sarah leaves her father, C. Lloyd Holecek of Marion, Iowa; mother, Maurine (Pfeifer) Holecek of Vinton, Iowa; sister, Rosanne Holecek of Berkeley, California; former partner and close friend, Debra Becker of Iowa City, Iowa; and many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends to mourn her passing. Sarah’s cat Zoe is missing Sarah.
Sarah’s family will greet friends Friday, August 7, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, on the south covered porch at Lensing Funeral Service, 605 Kirkwood Avenue in Iowa City.
A Celebration of Sarah’s Life will begin at 6:00 pm. Please respect social distancing guidelines and masks are strongly suggested.
Instead of flowers and plants, the family suggests memorial donations to The Sarah Holecek Memorial Fund, to benefit Sarah’s passion for parks conservancy and animal welfare.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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