HACKBART, Loretta 1926-2003

HACKBART

Posted By: K. Kittleson
Date: 9/30/2011 at 00:57:52

LORETTA MELINDA (Glassel) HACKBART

GRAFTON, IOWA - Loretta Melinda Hackbart, 76, of Grafton, died Thursday (Jan. 30, 2003) at her home in Grafton.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Grafton with the Rev. Wayne Ellingson officiating. Burial will be in the Grafton Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Bride Colonial Chapel, 110 E. Spring St. in Manly, and one hour prior to service time on Monday at the church.

Loretta Melinda Hackbart was born on April 15, 1926, at Plymouth, Iowa, the daughter of Lawrence and Melinda (Dobel) Glassel. She became a child of God through baptism at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Grafton on May 9, 1926. Her sponsors were her grandparents, Emil Glassel and Mrs. Herman (Marie) Dobel. She reaffirmed her faith of her baptism through confirmation in the Lutheran faith on June 1, 1941, by the Rev. H.L. Lechner.

Loretta graduated from Plymouth High School in 1944, and attended summer sessions at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. After completing her schooling, Loretta taught rural schools in Union Township in Worth County and Lime Creek Township in Cerro Gordo County, and worked at the Standard Oil business office in Mason City.

She was united in marriage to Robert William Hackbart on Oct. 31, 1948, at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Grafton. He preceded her in death on Jan. 28, 1999.

After their marriage, the couple lived on the century Hackbart farm south of Grafton all of their 50 years of married life. After Bob's death, Loretta continued to reside on the farm.

Loretta was a lifelong member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Grafton, and was active in the Women's Missionary Federation, American Lutheran Church Women and the Lutheran Church Women as vice-president and then president for six years. Loretta truly enjoyed these years of service, growing spiritually and making many new friends with Christian women throughout the conference and state.

She also taught Sunday school, was a Bethel Bible teacher, and a member of the church council and of the Altar Guild.

Loretta was very active in the Grafton Community Action organization, serving as treasurer for four years and co-editor of the monthly newsletter, "The Scoop." She received the Governor's Volunteer Award in 1995 from Gov. Terry Branstad.

She served for 15 years as a member of the Worth County unit of the American Cancer Society and on the Lutheran Brotherhood Worth County Branch board for nine years.

She was also active in high school sports and continued as an avid sports fan.

Left to cherish her memory is her family: two sons, Lee Hackbart, of Grafton, and Neil Hackbart and his wife, Donna, of Grafton; grandchildren, Jason Hackbart and his wife, Jody, and their daughter, Brooklyn Lanae Hackbart, of rural Kensett, and Amy Powers and her husband, Derrick, of Grafton; a brother, Rufus Glassel and his wife, Doris, of Plymouth; brothers and sisters-in-law, Truman and Lorraine Julseth, of rural Northwood, and Roger and Lucille Hackbart of Golden Valley, Minn.; one nephew and five nieces and their families.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Melinda Dobel Glassel, and her husband, Robert, in 1999.

Bride Colonial Chapel, (641) 454-2242.

Globe Gazette, ca Feb. 12, 2003