Dorothea Gingerich

1923 - 2022

Posted

Dorothea Gingerich, 98, died Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2022, at Pleasantview Home in Kalona.

Dorothea was born Oct. 24, 1923, in Etna Green, Ind., the daughter of Peter and Emma (Mullet) Graber. As a young woman, she worked as a nanny and at a country store stocking the shelves, pumping gas, and working the soda fountain.

On Feb. 12, 1948, she was united in marriage to Jacob M. Gingerich at her family home near Etna Green, Ind. The couple moved to rural Riverside, Iowa, in 1948 and were blessed with three children.

Dorothea loved people.  She made lifelong friends in first grade, in her Sharon Center neighborhood, her church, her egg route in Iowa City, and at Pleasantview. She enjoyed gardening, tending to flowers, quilting, crocheting, cooking and baking and was known to be a wonderful hostess.  Most of all Dorothea loved her family. She was baptized in her youth and was a member of the Sharon Bethel Church.

Dorothea is survived by three children: Earl (Diane Funk) Gingerich of Iowa City, Inez (Mark) Houk of Spokane, Washington, and Maynard (Carol) Gingerich of Riverside; 10 grandchildren: Ethan Gingerich, Aliese Gingerich, Jonathan (Marjorie) Houk, Brandon (Virgina) Houk, Mahlon (Laura) Houk, Ashlee (Derek) Whittington, Chase (Angie) Gingerich, Clinton (Hillary) Gingerich, Collin (Charity) Gingerich, and Cameron Gingerich; 10 great-grandchildren; two sisters: Ruth (Joe) Graber of Spooner, Wis. and Susie (Homer) Hershberger of Leon; brother: Paul (Anna) Graber of Campbell Hill, Ill.; brother-in-law: Eli Kuhns of Etna Green, Ind.; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband: Jacob; four siblings: Mary (Olen) Schrock, Amanda Kuhns, Martha Kaufman, and Ralph Graber; and nine sisters-in-law and nine brothers-in-law.

Funeral service was held Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022, at Sharon Bethel Church, and live streamed through the Sharon Bethel Facebook page.  Burial was in the Sharon Bethel Cemetery. A memorial fund has been established for the Pleasantview Home and the Sharon Bethel Church. The Yoder-Powell Funeral Home is caring for Dorothea and her family.