Ann Boenish

ANN BOENISH

Dyersville

Ann Boenish, 99, of Dyersville, died Monday, Oct. 19, 2015, at Oak Crest Manor, Dyersville. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23, at Kramer Funeral Home, 750 12th Ave. SW, Dyersville, where a parish vigil

service will commence at 3 p.m. and a rosary at 6:30 p.m. Visitation will continue from 9 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Kramer Funeral Home before the funeral services.

Funeral Mass will be 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 24, at St. Francis Xavier Basilica in Dyersville, with burial in the church cemetery, where military honors will be accorded by American Legion Post 137. The Rev. Jeffrey Dole will officiate.

Ann (Anna Margaret Matthews Boenish) was born Aug. 8, 1916, in Randolph, Iowa, the daughter of Vernon A. and Mattie (Wilson) Matthews. She served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1945. Ann was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she instructed pilots in the navigational link system. While there, she met Hans Boenish USMC, who was recuperating in a base hospital from wounds suffered in combat while fighting in Okinawa, Japan. They were married Oct. 7, 1946, in Imogene, Iowa, following the war and eventually settled in Dyersville in 1958.

Ann taught at Western Dubuque Elementary for 20 years, retiring in 1983. She was a respected teacher both in and out of the classroom, teaching scores of children to read.

She was a member of St. Francis Xavier Parish, Retired Teachers of Dubuque County, Friends of the Library, American Legion and was an active volunteer in the community.

Survivors include her children: Susan (Walter Morris) Schmitt of Houston, Texas, Max (Sheila) Boenish of Camas, Wash., Hans (Bonnie Bless) Boenish of Sequim, Wash., Mary (Buddy) Ramos of Scottsdale, Ariz., Mark (Rebecca) Boenish of Rochester, Minn., Steve (Kris) Boenish of Dubuque and Vernon (Penny) Boenish of Cedar Rapids; a daughter-in-law, Linda Boenish of Jacksonville, Fla.; 16 grandchildren: Amanda (Patrick) Methvin, Andrea (Adam) Sides, Stephen Schmitt, Thomas and Zoey Boenish, Hans C. and Anna Boenish, Sarah (Peter) Donovan, David Ramos, Luke Boenish, Brian (Alicia) Boenish, Matthew and Peter Boenish, Dillon (Elizabeth) Boenish, Joseph (Allison) Boenish and Laura Boenish and six great-grandchildren: Sophia and Madeline Methvin, Amelia Sides, Katherine and Brady Donovan and Pamela Boenish.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Hans, in 1989; a son, Paul Boenish, in 2011; her parents; and three sisters, Grace Matthews, Verna Davis and Helen Barnes.

She was the oldest surviving World War II veteran in Dyersville.

Ann will be greatly missed by all who were blessed by her generous and kind spirit.

Online condolences may be left for the family at www.kramerfuneral.com.