Obituary

Robert "Bob" Leonard Dvorak was born September 18, 1923 to Charles G. and Libbie (Kovarik) Dvorak on their rural farm home, five miles northeast of Chelsea, Iowa. Bob graduated from Salt Creek country school (8th grade) and farmed for the next 15 years. In 1952 he started working for Funk's in Belle Plaine as a laborer, sorting corn and running a crew. Three years later Bob married the love of his life, Ruth H. Holst. They moved to the farm and began raising their family. Alan was born in 1958 and Dale in 1961. He then worked for Hlavacek's Oil Company in 1956 and then Bevin's Ford Motor Company in 1970 – both in Belle Plaine – as a shop mechanic where he detailed vehicles. Bob andRuth surrounded themselves with family and friends,making memories close to home and on their annual summer vacations to dozens of states across the country. After 15 years at Bevin's, Bob retired in 1985 at age 62 so he andRuth could travel and spend more time visiting their family (over 15 trips to see his son, Dale, and family in Washington State). During his 27 years of retirement, Bob and Ruth both worked part-time at Pierce Lumber Company (1991 – 1995) as the janitorial cleaning crew. He was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Belle Plaine, where he and Ruth served as greeters, making people feel welcome. Bob was also proud to have over 50 years as a member of the Western Fraternal Life Association (Z.C.B.J.), a Czech-Slovak based fraternal lodge. Up until 2010, life was good; a broken hip changed all that, resulting in Bob and Ruth moving from their farm home to an apartment in Belle Plaine. The next two years saw Bob's health slowly get worse until he died of natural causes on October 22, 2012.Bob is survived by his wife, Ruth, of Belle Plaine; 2 sons: Alan of Belle Plaine and Dale (Vicki) of Kirkland, Washington; 4 grandchildren: Stephanie Dvorak of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sarah, Danielle, and Nathan Dvorak of Washington State; a sister-in-law, Mildred (Ed) Dvorak of Marion, Iowa.Preceding him in death were his parents, Charles G. and Libbie Dvorak; three brothers: Art, Ed, and Charlie; 2 sisters-in-law: Bernice (Art), and Mayme (Charlie).