Rosalie Heikes

NOTICE: Rock Rapids, IA Rosalie Heikes, age 88 of Rock Rapids, IA died Sunday, July 27, 2008 at the Rock Rapids Health Centre in Rock Rapids, IA. Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 30th at the United Methodist Church in Rock Rapids, with Rev. Anita Bane officiating. Burial will follow at the Grand Prairie Cemetery near Ellsworth, MN. Visitation will be Tuesday evening, July 29th from 2-8 p.m. with family present from 6-8 p.m. at the Jurrens Funeral Home in Rock Rapids, IA. Rosalie was born December 21, 1919 at her family home in Lynd, MN to Roy and Vinnie (Austin) Nicholson. She graduated from Lynd High school in 1938 and was a 1941 graduate from the School of Agriculture at the U of M, where she met her future husband. Rosalie was married to George P. Heikes on March 22, 1947. George passed away on March 14, 2005 just 8 days short of their 60th wedding anniversary. The couple farmed northeast of Ellsworth their entire lives before retirement. In 1997, they hosted a celebration to mark a century of family farming. In 1978, they moved into Ellsworth. They moved into Premier Estates in Rock Rapids in 2003 and the Rock Rapids Health Centre in 2005. Rosalie was very active in Ellsworth and surrounding communities serving the school PTA, Congregational Church Sunday School as teacher and superintendent, American Legion Auxiliary, Nobles County Welfare Board member, Red Cross volunteer, started a NAMI chapter in Nobles Co., member of the DAR, and Society of Mayflower Descendents. She was a member of the United Methodist Church, Rock Rapids. During World War II, she worked as a nurses aid at Gillette State Hospital for Crippled Children. She worked for 10 years at Arnold Memorial Nursing Home in Adrian as a nurses aide and later volunteered as a Gray Lady. She enjoyed bird watching, embroidering, gardening, reading, ceramics, and was a wonderful cook. She was a faithful letter writer keeping in touch with many people she had met throughout her life. Rosalie is survived by two sons, Lambert (Norma) Heikes, Lusby, MD; Carleton (Lisa) Heikes, Ellsworth; three daughters, Jennifer Collins, Spicer; Cynette (Jerry) Wipf, Sioux Falls, SD, Janet Heikes (Steven Sullivan), Hoffman Estates, IL; one sister, Florence Lund Williams, Murfreesboro, TN, eleven grandchildren, and five great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, George P. Heikes and her grandson, David Collins.