Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Sobaski
SOBASKI, STROHMAN, HART, WESSINGER, KLIPSTEIN, ADAM
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 5/9/2023 at 12:25:00
Elizabeth Ann “Betty” Sobaski, 91, died peacefully Wednesday, April 26, 2023 surrounded by her family.
Funeral Services will be held at 3 PM, Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, Iowa City. Father Charles Fladung will officiate. Visitation will be from 1 PM to 3 PM, prior to the service. Entombment will be at Memory Gardens Mausoleum.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Iowa City Hospice or the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
Betty was born July 8, 1931 in Sigourney, IA, the daughter of John and Marie (Hart) Strohman.
On September 3, 1955 Betty married Bernard Sobaski. Together Betty and Bernard owned and operated three businesses, Sobaski Carpets, Iowa Paper, and The Back Store.
Betty is survived by her five children, Anna Marie Sobaski, Joe (Angela) Sobaski, and Ed (Cheryl) Sobaski, all of Iowa City, Rosie (Myron) Wessinger of North Liberty, and Lisetta Sobaski (Peter Klipstein) of Seattle, Washington; grandchildren, Kelly (Mitchell), Courtney (Chad), Mike, Kara, Kate, Ava, and Zan; great-grandchildren, Cole, Nora, Riley and Charlie.
Betty was preceded in death by her parents; her husband in 2015; and siblings, Richard Strohman, Eugene Strohman and Teresa Adam.
Elizabeth Ann Sobaski 7/8/31 to 4/26/23
Mom grew up on a farm ins Southeast Iowa. Her favorite memories from childhood were of chemistry class and winning spelling bees. Her least favorite memory was always clear: she did not like getting up at 4AM to milk cows! As a young single woman from Sigourney Iowa, in the fifties, Mom got her first job in Washington at the Farm Bureau as a bookkeeper. Judging from the photos, she spent all her money on clothes. She looked fabulous. Mom liked to look stylish. I once organized her closet and her secret to great style was revealed. About 50 crisp white shirts, some elegant jewelry, a coach bag and a spritz of perfume.
She always said that she married dad in 1955 because they could have fun without spending money. They laughed a lot together and they kept up that dating vibe well into the 1980’s with weekly dances at the Moose lodge. They’d drink Singapore Slings or Grasshoppers and dance like winners from Dancing with the Stars. I’m sure Shirley remembers those days fondly too, as one of mom’s lifelong friends. Before the pandemic, mom would get dressed up and drive down to Riverside to meet up with Shirley to try their luck on the slot machines and catch up with friends.
Betty loved kids. Even before she had her five, she loved her sister’s kids like they were her own. Even 50 years later when telling stories about her kids, it wasn’t uncommon to hear the funny thing Jimmy said when he was 3, or what Gary was like as a little boy. You’ve never met a more patient and well organized person. Even when she had five kids under the age of five and babysat for more, she never raised her voice.
Seems Betty took after her father, John Strohman, with a head for business. She’d start small, just a few supplies, or few carpet samples, then grow slowly until her sons made the businesses the successful ventures they are today. She’s remembered most for the Back Store – all furniture specially designed for your back. She started with one massage chair and through trade shows and marketing, grew it into a special place in the Midwest, where you could get a Tempurpedic mattress in Iowa City in the 80’s, WAY before they became the dominant player in the mattress game. She knew what people wanted and she worked tirelessly, often 7 days a week around the holidays, to make the most of it. She was the queen of the soft sell, and she never pushed, but she also had a website before any of her kids.
Even though in the early years she ran the carpet cleaning business from the kitchen phone, and later it was retail, she always somehow managed to create wonderful memories for us around holidays and birthdays. We have lots of pictures of angel food cake with burnt sugar frosting. Her grandmother’s recipe for potato dressing was served every holiday, on demand as needed, and is still a family favorite. She made deviled eggs that everyone looked forward to, and egg noodles served as a side dish that were never, ever, leftovers. Her talent for pie was legendary. In the 50’s neighbors would stop by for a piece of pie and my friends in Seattle still talk about her apricot pie as like eating a slice of sunshine.
Despite all her commitment to business, her family always was always her first concern. She knew the names of the people I carpool with and, asked after my friends and wanted to make sure I wasn’t working too hard. She was always thinking of little ways she could help, with a dish of baked spaghetti or a handy organizing case for batteries. In her actions, her love for her family shone through. Betty was always trying to win the lottery or hit it big, not for herself, she never once talked about what she’d do for herself with the money, it was always what she’d do for those she loved. What she didn’t realize is that we had already won the most important lottery there is when we got her for a mother.
As independent and competent as mom was, we are all so grateful for the devoted, loving care Anna has given mom since Dad died in 2015. Anna created a happy home for mom, for the two of them, full of petunias in the summer and flowering cactus in the winter, daily outings and lots mashed potatoes (mom’s favorite). We hope you all plant a petunia for Betty this summer and remember her as a smart, competent woman and loving mother, in a crisp white shirt.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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