Obituary of Delores Schwaller

A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 at 10:30 AM at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford, Iowa. Burial will be at Northlawn Cemetery in Spencer, Iowa. Visitation will be on Monday, November 11, 2013 after 4:00 PM with the family present from 5-7 PM at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Milford. A Parish scripture service will be held at 7:00 PM. Delores "Dee" Lavon (Johnston) Schwaller was born January 18, 1933 at Cleghorn, the daughter of Joseph Lee and Mildred (Phelan) Johnston. She attended school at Cleghorn, graduating from Cleghorn High School in 1952. She began training as a lab technician in Minneapolis in January 1953 and worked at Mount Sinai Hospital in Minneapolis for one year. She later moved to Spencer , Iowa and worked at Spencer Hospital for a short time. She married Donald Schwaller on January 7, 1955 in Spencer. They lived in Everly for one year before moving to Lake Township in Clay County, where they farmed together for 14 years. They moved to Milford in 1970. Dee had many different jobs throughout her married life. She worked at McQuay's in Spirit Lake, the Milford Nursery for many years, and at the bakery at Buy Rite Food Center in Milford. The job she enjoyed the most was waitressing and baking pies at Mige's Restaurant and Dan's Restaurant, where she was also able to interact with people, making it seem like it wasn't work at all. Dee was a people person and spent much time socializing. She enjoyed woodworking, gardening and attending her grandchildrens' school and summer activities. Dee died Thursday, November 7, 2013, surrounded by her family, at the Milford Nursing Center following a year-long courageous battle with cancer. She will be missed by her husband, Donald, of Milford; children Diane Warburton of Milford, and Dave (Karen) Schwaller of Milford; five grandchildren—Brandon Warburton of Milford, Katelyn Warburton of St. Paul, Minn.; Emily Schwaller, Doug Schwaller and Dustin Schwaller, all of Milford; brother, Bob (Eleanor) Johnston of Cherokee, sister, Darlene Roepke and her friend, Larry Goettsch of Washta, sisters-in-law, Lois (Tom) Crane and Elaine Schwaller, and many cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, and brothers-in-law, Melvin Roepke and Ray Schwaller.