Obituaries

Lorraine Edith Eckenrod, 95, Charles City

Lorraine Edith Eckenrod, 95, of Charles City, passed away on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, at the Floyd County Medical Center.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00a.m. on Saturday, May 20, 2023, at Bethany Alliance Church with Pastor Coulter Page officiating. A burial will follow at Riverside Cemetery in Charles City.

Visitation will be held from 2:30 to 4:30p.m. on Friday, May 19, 2023, at Hauser Weishaar Funeral Home and continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.

Lorraine Edith (Ferch) Eckenrod was born August 7, 1927, in Nashua, the daughter of John and Mabel Ferch. She attended rural country schools and graduated from Charles City High School in 1945. Lorraine’s mother passed away when Lorraine was twelve. Lorraine had two brothers and two sisters she helped raise.

On February 13, 1955, Lorraine was united in marriage to Richard Eckenrod at the Little Brown Church in Nashua. They lived in Charles City all their married life. Richard suffered a brain aneurysm in 1975. Lorraine spent many years caring for him until his death.

Lorraine worked at KCHA Radio Station, Montgomery Ward, YMCA, Salsbury Laboratory, and Floyd County Ambulance as a bookkeeper. She was a member of the Bethany Alliance Church for many years. Sports were very popular events in the family. She especially enjoyed watching basketball games and softball games. After Richard’s death, Lorraine became a foster grandparent at the school. She loved the young children very much and helping the little kids was very special to her. She said they would still call her “Grandma Lorraine” when they saw her. Another one of her greatest highlights of the last couple of years was shopping! She especially loved Reruns.

Those left to cherish her memory include her four daughters: Debra (Kirk) Bailey, Jean (Jerry) Wiltse, Nancy Eckenrod, all of Charles City, and Karla (Jeff) Klein of Prior Lake, Minnesota; three sons: Keith (Cindy) Eckenrod, Thomas (Lori) Eckenrod, both of Charles City, and Bill (Jill) Eckenrod of Waverly; daughter-in-law, Jennifer Meyer of Grand Junction, Colorado; 18 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren; 5 great-great-grandchildren; brother, Jerry (Sandy) Ferch of Downers Grove, Illinois; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Family was very important to mom as well as her love for the Lord. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t or didn’t do for her family. We may not have had all the luxuries in life, but we never felt like we lacked for anything with mom. She was the most loving, caring person we know. She loved her family but also anyone who entered our home. She always made room for one more at the table and we were always dragging someone home and they were always treated with that same love. Mom was a caretaker all her life and loved it. She started at a young age being a caretaker with her mother and her siblings, raising her nine children, helping with grandchildren, taking care of dad after his aneurysm, and always helping family members in need. Mom had a great servant’s heart! She will be greatly missed by her family. She was the matriarch of our family and always will be.

She was preceded in death by her parents, John & Mabel Ferch and Dora Ferch; husband, Richard; daughter and son-in-law, Linda & Ronald Apel; son, Michael Eckenrod; grandson, Steven Apel; granddaughter, Faith Eckenrod; brothers, Roger Ferch, Donald Ferch, and Paul Ferch; and sisters, Betty Caster and Doris Bertelsen.

Hauser Weishaar Funeral Home, (641) 228-2323, 1205 South Main Street, Charles City, Iowa 50616 is in charge of local arrangements. Online condolences may be left on the Tribute Wall for the family at www.hauserfh.com.

Chris Berg

Chris was born in Webster City and raised in Charles City. As a young kid, he would always be caught singing along to songs on the radio. He says he's good at karaoke but we think otherwise. ;) In his free time, he enjoys beginning new projects at home and hardly ever finishing them. Chris lives in Charles City with his wife Vicki, daughter Brynlee and son Jaxon.
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