Obituary of Mavis Hornick

A Memorial Service for Mavis Hornick, age 73, of Lake Park will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 11:00am at the United Methodist Church in Lake Park. Visitation will take place on Friday, August 25, 2023 from 5:00-7:00pm at the church in Lake Park. Inurnment will be in the Silver Lake Cemetery in Lake Park. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be given to the United Methodist Women at 1471 135th Ave, Lake Park, IA 51347. 

Mavis passed away on August 17, 2023 at her home in Lake Park. 

Mavis’ journey in life began in Sleepy Eye, MN on September 10th, 1949. She was born to Lorand and Dorothy (Krenz) Zuhlsdorf living in Evan, MN. Her elementary school years were in Evan and later years in St. Mary’s through 10th grade, then transferred to Sleepy Eye Public.  After her parents’ divorce, she moved to Morgan, MN, where she graduated in 1968.

During her sophomore year, she met her sweetheart, Joe Hornick, which led to a trip down the aisle on February 7th, 1970. Mavis and Joe lived in Mankato, MN, then Worthington, MN, where they welcomed Emily Kay in 1976.

The family of three then moved to Lake Park, IA, in 1977. Joe bought Lake Park Body Shop and Mavis was his loyal bookkeeper for 38 years.  In 1978, Nicole Marie was born and the family of four established roots in Lake Park.

Mavis was a stay-at-home mom to Emily and Nicole. She did in-home daycare and became a second mom to the Untiedt and Stahly girls and the Morrow boys, the Davis kids and many others. She loved those kids like her own.

After the girls got a little older, Mavis worked for Security State Bank in Lake Park and then at Sather’s, working the front desk where she brought her big smile to work and retired in 2000.

She enjoyed vacations with family and friends, late night pontoon rides on Silver Lake and pointing out stars to look at. Despite her rheumatoid arthritis, Mavis enjoyed taking walks whenever she could and bike rides in the summer.   

Mavis is survived by her husband, Joe of Lake Park, Iowa; daughters, Emily (Tony) Petersen of Milford, Iowa and Nicole (Lucien) Vabre of Lake Park, Iowa;  grandchildren, Anna and Lyla Petersen; Natalie and Kieren Vabre; siblings: Jerry (Mary) Zuhlsdorf, Janette (Ron) Krmarzick, Diane Weber, Sara (Russ) Clark; brothers-in-law: Kenneth Rothmeier, Ed (Shirley) Hornick, Gerald Hornick; sisters-in-law: Peggy Zuhlsdorf, Elaine Anderson, Debbie Magallanes; special friends: Kris Delaney, Rose Robertson, and Sally Herbert; as well as many nieces and nephews. 

Mavis was preceded in death by her parents, Lorand Zuhlsdorf and Dorothy Gross; siblings: Judith Johnson, Mark Zuhlsdorf, Marion “Deno” Rothmeier; father and mother-in-law, Edward Sr. and Johanna (Johnson) Hornick; brother-in-law, Verle Johnson; her beloved cat, Max, and two Labrador Retrievers, Sammy and Abby.

Many thanks to Dr. Fanciullo and his team at Avera Medical Group Rheumatology and Janet and the rest of the team from Avera hospice.  

Some special advice from Mavis: be kind to everyone, treat others the way you want to be treated, hold the door open for the person behind you, and when you get up from the table, push your chair back in.