LaVon (Stahly) NOLAN HRUSKA

HRUSKA, STAHLY, WEAVER, LARSON, MURRAY, WEDEKING, KETCHUM, BERNECKER, BORGESON, SHIFFLER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 12/29/2006 at 17:53:03

LaVon Nolan Hruska, 89, a former Belmond resident, died May 11, 2006 at Mercy Hospice House in Johnston. Services were held May 16 at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Belmond with Rev. Chris Podhajsky, Rev. James McAlpin, and Rev. Msgr. Alvan Heuring officiating. Burial was in the church cemetery

Mary LaVon was born April 11, 1917 on a farm near Ocheyedan, Iowa, to Ezra and Mable Weaver Stahly. She began her life as a farm girl on her maternal grandparents' farm. The family moved to Spencer where her father started a car dealership and eventually became Sheriff of Pocahontas County. LaVon and her brother were school children during the Depression. Her father lost the dealership and a grandfather lost the entire proceeds from the sale of his farm by depositing the money in the bank the day before it closed. Since most Iowans were in the same condition, LaVon was raised believing that hardship was a normal condition of life. She recalled selling donuts made by her mother door to door and using strips of cardboard to fill in the holes in her shoes. LaVon was named Miss Pocahontas County of 1935. She was much in demand on the dance floor at pavilions in northwest Iowa, especially those at Twin Lakes, Okoboji and Lizard Lake. She met her future husband on the dance floor - Donald Nolan of Palmer. After completing business college in Chillicothe, MO, she returned to Pocahontas to work in the county attorney's office. She then married Don who had just completed pharmacy college, and they purchased Tierney Drug in Palmer. The family later resided in Mapleton and Ft. Dodge before settling in Belmond in 1949 where LaVon would reside for the next 50 years. LaVon was not your average 50's housewife. While rearing her daughters, she actively worked with Don at Nolan Rexall Drug. LaVon made ice cream and popcorn to buy her daughters snowsuits, won a dining room set from Kodak for her marketing ideas, managed gift and cosmetic inventory, and assisted Don in the pharmacy department. Don died in 1964 and LaVon managed the drug store until she sold it to Erv and Rita Redder. LaVon was in the basement of her home during the 1966 tornado, and she lost most of her possessions. She married Dr. Glenn Hruska in 1967. He died in 1986. LaVon's life continued to center around her family, children, grandchildren and eventually great grandchildren. She never missed an opportunity to be with her family and cherished every card, letter or phone call from family and friends. Her volunteer work included Meals on Wheels, the Catholic Youth Organization, and the Belmond Hospital Auxiliary. She enjoyed membership in Catholic Daughters of America, St. Elizabeth Club, Kensington Club, PEO and Century Club. She was a member of the building planning board for the present St. Francis Xavier Church where she also served as a Eucharistic minister. LaVon relocated to Des Moines in 1999 where she enjoyed being closer to other family members.

LaVon was preceded in death by her husbands and brother Daryle Stahly. LaVon is survived by daughters Donna (Larry) Larson of Carmel, CA and Bonnie (John) Wedeking Murray of Vancouver, WA; step children Jeff Hruska of Boone, Dr. Jonathan (Lynn) Hruska of Storm Lake, and Molly Ketchum of Boone; grandchildren Mark (Kathy) Larson, Lori (Larry) Bernecker, Michael (Amy) Wedeking, Kathleen (Erik) Borgeson, Patrick (Sabre) Wedeking, Michelle Ketchum, Chad (Tina) Ketchum, Nathan (Julie) Hruska, Jennifer Hruska, and Kristin (Matt) Shiffler.

©Belmond Independent 2006
May 16, 2006