Adolphs, Margaret E. 1917-2010

ADOLPHS, HARTZELL, MCCAULLEY, TEUFEL, VAN LOON, DOWNING, BARNETT

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 5/15/2012 at 11:11:22

Obituary; Tributes.com

MARGARET E. ADOLPHS

Margaret Esther McCaulley Adolphs, 93, of Dubuque, formerly of University Park, Iowa, died Tuesday evening (November 9) in Dubuque at Ennoble Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, which had been her home for (1?) years. Margaret was born in Grinnell, Iowa, on June 19, 1917, to Homer and Mabel Hartzell McCaulley, the first of Homer and Mabel's seven children. Margaret's family moved to Malcom when she was a youngster, and though they moved in 1934 to Keota, Iowa, where she graduated from high school in 1935, she enjoyed class reunions with the Malcom graduating class for many years and kept in touch with many of her classmates over the years. As a young adult, Margaret worked in her Aunt Byrd McCaulley Teufel's restaurant in Victor, Iowa, where she perfected her already-won skills as a great baker and cook. After Margaret graduated from high school, the McCaulley's moved to University Park, where her father owned and operated McCaulley's Wholesale Meats.

Margaret married Alvin T. Adolphs on June 26, 1937. Alvin was a manager at Continental Mfg. and later a cost and designs engineer at Ideal Mfg. which became Superior Industries before his retirement in 1973. They lived in the Oskaloosa, Knoxville, and University Park area until 1995 when they moved to Dudley, North Carolina, where they made their home with their oldest daughter Constance Van Loon and her husband Theo. Alvin died on March 6, 2000, and that summer Margaret moved back "home" to Iowa and lived with her youngest daughter (Carolyn) Jeanne Patterson and her husband David in Dubuque.

Following Margaret and Alvin's marriage, Margaret was first a homemaker and mother but found time to participate in community activities and host family activities. In fact, the family referred to their home as the Adolphs Motel and looked forward to the great meals that Margaret prepared for any occasion. Margaret often played the piano for community functions and, of course, the family get-togethers. As a young mother, Margaret was in the "Spit and Whittle Club" and later was active in the University Park Women's Club. She was also active in the Republican Party, often hosting the caucuses in University Park. In addition to the usual parenting tasks of being involved in PTA, numerous chauffeuring activities, and May basket construction, she was also an election official for years and looked forward to those times of seeing friends and neighbors. She was a member of the Central United Methodist Church in Oskaloosa, and then transferred her membership to St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Dubuque. She was the family "communicator," spending hours at the kitchen table everyday just "keeping in touch" with letters and greeting cards.

Margaret was able to attend the University Park Centennial Celebration in University Park in 2006 and enjoyed her "best birthday party ever," her 90th, hosted by her daughters at the University Park Community Center in 2007.

Margaret is survived by her three daughters and their husbands: Constance and T/Sgt. (USAF Ret.) Theo Van Loon of Dudley, North Carolina; Rebecca and Michael McCullough of Burlington, Iowa; and C. Jeanne and David Patterson of Dubuque; one daughter-in-law and her husband, Janet and Larry Downing of Millersport, Ohio; 10 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; 7 great-great-grandchildren; and a brother, Col. (USAF Ret.) Roger McCaulley of San Antonio, Texas.

In addition to her husband Alvin, she was preceded in death by her parents Homer and Mabel Hartzell McCaulley; four brothers: Wilbur, Warren, Kenneth, and Robert McCaulley; one sister, Eleanor McCaulley Barnett; one son, Arlo Adolphs; one granddaughter, Suzanne Van Loon; and one grandson, Sean Patterson.

As was her wish she has been cremated. Visitation will be at Bates Funeral Chapel on Monday, November 15, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and the family will be present. The memorial service will be held Tuesday, November 16, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. in the Bates Funeral Chapel, with Dr. Andrew Saperstein (Margaret's oldest granddaughter's husband) officiating. Burial will follow in the University Park Cemetery. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Dubuque, 1670 JFK Road, Dubuque, IA 52002; or Ennoble Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 2000 Pasadena Drive, Dubuque, IA 52001-0898.