Irma Mae Sokolowski 1928 - 2013
SOKOLOWSKI, KLEIN, WEBER
Posted By: Connie Swearingen-Volunteer (email)
Date: 2/11/2014 at 11:36:02
Sioux City Journal
11 December 2013MAPLETON, Iowa | Irma M. Sokolowski, 85, of Mapleton, formerly of Danbury, Iowa, passed away Sunday, Dec. 8, 2013, at Maple Heights Nursing Home in Mapleton.
Services will be 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Danbury, with the Rev. Dan Greving and Deacon Ray Rosburg officiating. Burial will be in Danbury Catholic Cemetery. Visitation will be after 5 p.m. today, with a rosary by St. Mary’s Rosary Society at 5:30 p.m. and the vigil wake service at 7 p.m., all at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Armstrong Funeral Home of Danbury and Mapleton.
Irma Mae Weber was born on May 24, 1928, to John and Anna (Klein) Weber of Danbury, Iowa. Irma, the fifth of 12 children, attended St. Mary’s Catholic School, and was crowned May queen in May 1945. She graduated from St. Patrick’s Academy in 1945. Following graduation, she attended Westmar College in Le Mars, Iowa, and held teaching positions in country schools for three years.
She married James "Jim" Francis Sokolowski on Sept. 21, 1948. In their wedding write-up, Irma was described as a charming young lady being highly respected by everyone for her pleasing personality and ladylike ways. Irma and Jim lived on the J.K. Granter farm west of Danbury before moving to their own farm, also west of Danbury, in December 1953. There they raised their four children, Kathryn Ann, Kenton James, Joyce Marie and Julie Lynne. Irma was always very busy and organized on the farm. She raised chickens, large gardens, canning a variety of fruits, jams and vegetables; baking, cooking, and sewing. She spent long nights expertly nursing her kids when they were sick to start all over the next day with the same amount of work. When James broke his back in a tractor accident in 1968, she remained the steady strong hand to guide the family. Over many years, when workers would come to help with field work or general chores, Irma cooked numerous meals for them and was well known for her great cooking. She would keep lists of each person of what they liked or didn’t like to make sure they had their favorites the next time. She was often found outside helping Jim, even driving tractors to help during the harvest. Many a cold winter night would find her tending to a litter of baby pigs or a newborn calf in the basement to keep them warm.
Irma was a past member of the DCCW and was an officer of the St. Mary’s Rosary Society numerous times. She was also a member of St. Mary’s choir for many years, as she loved to sing. All of her children took piano lessons, which was always a dream of hers to learn. She loved Glenn Miller, Lawrence Welk and Daniel O’Donnell. Irma always enjoyed going to dances all of her life and convinced Jimmy to take dancing lessons. Weekends would find them cutting a rug on Saturday nights. She did beautiful embroidery and made special memory quilts for her children, having learned from the best, her own mother. The family took vacations to nearly every state west of the Missouri, the Ozarks and Canada.
Their children’s marriages and grandchildren filled their home throughout the years. In December 2006, Irma and Jim sold their acreage and moved to Mapleton for a well-deserved retirement. James went to eternal peace in heaven on Dec. 13, 2008. Irma’s priorities were Jesus and her family. She was strong in her faith and values, and soft in her wisdom and grace. She instilled in her children and grandchildren a love and commitment to family, and an ethic of hard work.
Irma is survived by her four children, Kathy (Douglas) Wood of Sartell, Minn., Kent (Rosana) Sokolowski of Wenatchee, Wash., Joyce Kafton of Mapleton, and Julie (Brian) Holly of Luling, Texas; grandchildren, Eric (Ryan) Wood of Wilton Manors, Fla., Bryan (Kat) Wood of Sandstone, Minn., Lisa (Randy) Talley of Wenatchee, Wash., Michael (Cassie) Sokolowski of Lemoore, Calif., Sheena Sokolowski of Seattle, Wash., Tammy Kafton of Sioux City, Justin Kafton and Toni Kafton of Mapleton, Christopher Holly of Houston, Texas, and Jay Holly of Lawrenceville, Ga.; seven great-grandchildren, Brianna and Addison Talley, Sophia, Alaina and Noelle Sokolowski, and Maya and Henry Wood; her brothers, Leo (Helen) Weber, and Vernal (Evonne) Weber; sisters, Alice Weber and Carole Barkley; brothers-in-law, Ron Seuntjens and Tom Thiel; and sister-in-law, Ellen Weber.
She was preceded in death by her husband, James; her parents, John and Anna; her brothers, Donald "Bud", James, and Raymond; and her sisters, Mary Ann, Lois, Martha and Helen
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