Ruth Hedwig Dvorak
Ruth Hedwig Dvorak (Holst)

February 24, 1934April 16, 2013 (79 years old)
Hometown: Belle Plaine, IA
February 24, 1934April 16, 2013
(79 years old) | Belle Plaine, IA

Obituary

Ruth Hedwig Dvorak (nee Holst) was born February 24, 1934 to Alfred and Stella Holst at their rural farm home, a few miles southwest of Keystone, Iowa. Ruth graduated from Keystone High School in 1952 and then worked at Collins Radio Company in Cedar Rapids until she married the love of her life, Robert "Bob" Dvorak on June 19, 1955. They moved to the Dvorak farm and began raising their family; Alan was born in 1958 and Dale in 1961. Ruth loved being a homemaker, cooking, baking, gardening, and helping with school events/activities – making the house a home. Ruth not only worked hard at home, but spent many summers detasseling corn; she also sorted corn in the fall for Funk's and made Christmas wreaths in the winter for the local nursery. Ruth was a member of the First Lutheran Church in Belle Plaine where she taught Sunday school and served as a member of the Ladies Aid; she also enjoyed volunteering at the Care Center in Belle Plaine, She and Bob worked part-time at Pierce Lumber Company (1991 – 1995) as the janitorial cleaning crew. Ruth also started a new career as a school lunch worker (1994 – 2010); for 16 years she loved to see the smiles and hear the laughter of the little kids she served. Ruth and Bob surrounded themselves with family and friends, making memories close to home and on their annual summer vacations to dozens of states across the country. A stroke in September of 2010 changed her active lifestyle, resulting in Bob and Ruth moving from their farm home to an apartment in Belle Plaine. The next two years saw Ruth's health slowly get worse; she spent the last few months at the Care Center in Belle Plaine where she enjoyed making friends, playing cards (Pig) and Bingo, and doing crafts. A short illness resulted in her death on April 16, 2013 (less than six months after Bob passed away in October 2012).Ruth is survived by her 2 sons: Alan of Belle Plaine, Iowa and Dale (Vicki) of Kirkland, Washington; 4 grandchildren: Stephanie Dvorak of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Sarah, Danielle, and Nathan Dvorak of Washington state; 2 brothers: Byron (Sharon) Holst of Keystone, Iowa, Lester (Kay) Holst of Indianola, Iowa; 2 sisters: Olga (Vernon) Sikir of Belle Plaine, Iowa, Carol McGinnis of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; 1 sister-in-law, Ann (Harvey) Holst of Independence, Iowa.Preceding her in death was her husband, Bob; her parents, Alfred and Stella Holst; 1 brother: Harvey "Harv" Holst.