1952
Rita
2009
Rita Ann Whalen
June 6, 1952 — June 30, 2009
Rita A. Whalen, 57, of Waukon, IA, died Tuesday, June 30, 2009, at her home in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Friday, July 3rd, at 10:30 AM at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon, with Fr. Joseph Schneider and Rev. Msgr. Ed Lechtenberg officiating. Burial will be at St. Mary's Lycurgus Cemetery, rural Waukon. Friends may call from 3:00 PM - 8:00 PM Thursday at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon, where there will be a 3:00 pm scripture service. Memorials may be made to St. Mary's Lycurgus Cemetery, St. Patrick Catholic School, or St. Mary's Hanover Catholic Church.
Rita Ann Whalen was born on June 6, 1952 in Waukon, Iowa, the daughter of Donald Aloysious and Bernadette Margaret (Larkin) Whalen. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary's Lycurgus Catholic Church. Rita attended Lycurgus rural elementary school and graduated from St. Patrick High School in Waukon in 1970. She went on to study accounting at Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar, IA. After schooling Rita worked first at Veterans Memorial Hospital and then for Mark Mauss Motors and Pladsen Motors, all in Waukon. The past 27 years she has been the secretary and bookkeeper at Torkelson Motors in Waukon.
Rita was a very active member at her church. She was involved with the CEW program, was a recent president of ACCW through the Decorah Deanery, taught CCD classes at St. Mary's Lycurgus and St. Patrick Catholic Churches, and worked with the music programs at St. Mary's Lycurgus, St. Mary's Hanover, and St. Patrick Catholic Churches. In addition to her music involvement at churches, Rita taught guitar lessons, sang at many weddings, funerals and special occasions throughout the area, and was a member of the Great River Chapter of Sweet Adelines.
Rita liked to travel, taking trips to visit relatives as well as tours to different parts of the country, including an annual visit for the past 15 years to Grand Marais Resort in northern Minnesota. Rita loved spending time with children, and they loved spending time with her, especially her nieces and nephews who enjoyed yearly visits to pick strawberries and adventures in the backyard raspberry patch with their Aunt Rita. She also enjoyed collecting spoons, dolls, and coins. Her dog Buddy was a constant companion at the house and often went with Rita on errands and walks around town.
Survivors include her mother, Bernadette Whalen of Waukon; 5 brothers, Patrick (Karen) Whalen of Lansing, IA, Thomas (Laurie) Whalen of Dawsonville, GA, Joseph (Tina) Whalen of Crawfordsville, IA, Jerry (Kris) Whalen of Eugene, OR, and Dennis Whalen of Iowa City, IA; and numerous nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews and cousins.
Honorary casketbearers are Denise Hager, Kathy Fossum, Marian Bauercamper, Mary Regan, Barb Winters, Edna Wyninger, Marilyn Clark, Carmen Connor, Eileen Curtin, Bekki Davis, Joan Running, Linda Burke, and members of the CEW Family. Casketbearers are Dennis Byrnes, Paul Farley, Gary Schulte, Bob Larkin, Jeff Militor, and Francis Blake.
Rita Ann Whalen was born on June 6, 1952 in Waukon, Iowa, the daughter of Donald Aloysious and Bernadette Margaret (Larkin) Whalen. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Mary's Lycurgus Catholic Church. Rita attended Lycurgus rural elementary school and graduated from St. Patrick High School in Waukon in 1970. She went on to study accounting at Northeast Iowa Community College in Calmar, IA. After schooling Rita worked first at Veterans Memorial Hospital and then for Mark Mauss Motors and Pladsen Motors, all in Waukon. The past 27 years she has been the secretary and bookkeeper at Torkelson Motors in Waukon.
Rita was a very active member at her church. She was involved with the CEW program, was a recent president of ACCW through the Decorah Deanery, taught CCD classes at St. Mary's Lycurgus and St. Patrick Catholic Churches, and worked with the music programs at St. Mary's Lycurgus, St. Mary's Hanover, and St. Patrick Catholic Churches. In addition to her music involvement at churches, Rita taught guitar lessons, sang at many weddings, funerals and special occasions throughout the area, and was a member of the Great River Chapter of Sweet Adelines.
Rita liked to travel, taking trips to visit relatives as well as tours to different parts of the country, including an annual visit for the past 15 years to Grand Marais Resort in northern Minnesota. Rita loved spending time with children, and they loved spending time with her, especially her nieces and nephews who enjoyed yearly visits to pick strawberries and adventures in the backyard raspberry patch with their Aunt Rita. She also enjoyed collecting spoons, dolls, and coins. Her dog Buddy was a constant companion at the house and often went with Rita on errands and walks around town.
Survivors include her mother, Bernadette Whalen of Waukon; 5 brothers, Patrick (Karen) Whalen of Lansing, IA, Thomas (Laurie) Whalen of Dawsonville, GA, Joseph (Tina) Whalen of Crawfordsville, IA, Jerry (Kris) Whalen of Eugene, OR, and Dennis Whalen of Iowa City, IA; and numerous nieces, nephews, grand nieces and nephews and cousins.
Honorary casketbearers are Denise Hager, Kathy Fossum, Marian Bauercamper, Mary Regan, Barb Winters, Edna Wyninger, Marilyn Clark, Carmen Connor, Eileen Curtin, Bekki Davis, Joan Running, Linda Burke, and members of the CEW Family. Casketbearers are Dennis Byrnes, Paul Farley, Gary Schulte, Bob Larkin, Jeff Militor, and Francis Blake.
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