Obituary of Leona Magdalen Martinsen

MONTICELLO, IOWA Leona M. Martinsen, 97, of Monticello died Tuesday, December 30, 2014, at Monticello Nursing & Rehab. Center in Monticello. Friends may call from 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. Sunday, January 4, 2015, at Kramer Funeral Home in Monticello where a vigil service will be held at 3:00 p.m. Friends may continue the visitation after 10:00 a.m. Monday at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Monday, January 5, 2015, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Monticello, with burial in the church cemetery. Officiating will be Rev. Paul Baldwin. Leona was born on March 27, 1917, in Monticello, Iowa, the daughter of Claude and Matilda (Schweitzer) Fothergill. She graduated from Sacred Heart School and the Cedar Rapids Business College and worked for the Wilson Co. for 5 years. She married Laurence C. Martinsen on August 19, 1940, in Monticello. She also worked at Long Grocery for 10 years and then as a secretary for Sacred Heart School for 21 years until retiring in 1989. She also volunteered for the Monticello Senior Home for 8 years. Leona enjoyed ceramics, knitting, crocheting, sewing, reading, canning and candy making. She was a member of Sacred Heart Parish, the Sacred Heart Alumni Association and the Sacred Heart Ladies Aid Society. Survivors include her children: Laurence "Marty" (Mary Anne) of Peoria, AZ, Pat (Bill) Casey of Alburnett, IA, and Mike (Diane) Martinsen of Monticello, IA, 2 sons-in-law: Greg Haas of Monticello and Paul Nielsen of Anamosa; 14 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Larry, 2 daughters: Sharon Nielsen and Lynne Haas, a son-in-law, Larry Hawker and siblings: Sr. Mary Garnier Fothergill, OSF, Catherine E. Keiser, Claude "Junior" Fothergill, Marguerite Henrichs. Memorials are preferred to Sacred Heart School in Monticello.