Lauretta M. Bechler 1916-2010

BECHLER, BLACKMORE STEPHENS

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 2/20/2011 at 17:47:14

Sioux City Journal
3 June 2010

SIOUX CITY -- Lauretta M. Bechler, 93, of Sioux City passed away Tuesday, June 1, 2010, at Sunrise Retirement Community.

Services will be 1 p.m. Friday at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, with the Rev. Merlin Schrad officiating. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Visitation with the family will be one hour prior to the service Friday at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel.

Lauretta was born Aug. 18, 1916, in Hinton, Iowa, the daughter of Edward and Hattie (Blackmore) Stephens. After graduating from Hinton High School, she married Gerald "Jerry" Bechler of Sioux City on Sept. 19, 1935, at St. Boniface Catholic Church. Jerry passed away Nov. 16, 2005, in Sioux City.

She was a homemaker and enjoyed being a mother. She enjoyed sewing, cooking and when retired, she loved to go fishing and travel to adventurous places with Jerry. She was a member of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church for more than 50 years and the Ladies Confraternity.

Survivors include her three children, Joan Crawford and her husband, Jerry of Sloan, Iowa, Ronald Bechler and his wife, Nancy of Monticello, Iowa, and Linda Schille of Minneapolis; eight grandchildren; 14 great-grandchildren; a sister, Bernice Lehrman of Le Mars, Iowa; a brother, Lester Stephens and his wife, Barb of Seattle, Wash.; sisters-in-law, Elaine Bechler of Dubuque, Iowa, Mildred Wilson of Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Peggy Bledsoe of Ventura, Calif.; many nieces and nephews; other relatives; and special friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 70 years, Jerry; her parents; two sisters, Hilda Boettger of Merrill, Iowa, and Leona Petersen of Sioux City; and a brother, Edward Stephens of Struble, Iowa.

Memorial contributions can be made to Hospice of Siouxland, 4300 Hamilton Blvd., Sioux City, IA. 51104.

Lauretta became great friends with the ladies from Hospice. Thank you Hospice for all that you do and how you love your patients. The family would also like to thank the staff of Bernstein neighborhood at Sunrise Retirement for the loving care and support this past year.