Rieke, Lois Dorothy Mollenhauer

Lois Dorothy Mollenhauer Rieke, 91, of Watauga, Texas, formerly of Hiawatha, died Friday, Jan. 7, 2011, in her home. A memorial service for family and friends will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, in the parlor of the North Richland Hills Baptist Church, North Richland Hills, Texas. Burial will be at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery, Cedar Rapids, in the spring.

Survivors include a son, Phil Kenneth Rieke of Watauga; a brother, Ivan Mollenhauer and wife Loretta of Marion; grandchildren, Laura McGee and husband Ron of Guthrie, Okla., Shara Fruits and husband Joel of Asheville, N.C., Debra Essen and husband Neil of Keller, Texas, and Kenneth M. Rieke of Oklahoma City, Okla.; and five great-grandchildren, Grant and Caralea McGee and Grace, Haley and Maggey Essen.

Lois was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Kenneth; and brothers, Glen, Leo, Robert and Dean Mollenhauer.

Lois was born in Ashland, Wis., on Dec. 19, 1919, to John F. and Bernice (Romig) Mollenhauer. Her parents were farmers and when she was 3, they moved to Iowa, near Cedar Rapids/Marion. She grew up on farms with her five brothers, but she was a “city girl” at heart. She learned domestic skills from her mother, while her brothers learned to farm from their father. After graduating at age 16 from Marion High School, she began working at King's Crown Plaster Co. While in Cedar Rapids, she met the man who was to become her husband for 42 years, Kenneth Rieke. He ran the Cedar Rapids terminal for Rieke Motor Transfer Lines. They were married on Aug. 12, 1940.

Chicago became their home in the early 1940s where Kenneth managed the operations for Schreiber Trucking Co. and Lois managed the home front, while helping raise her young sister-in-law, Edith Rieke. In January 1949, Phil was born and, in 1955, the Rieke's moved to Bellwood, a Chicago suburb, where Lois was active in church, PTA and charitable causes.

In 1975, Lois and Ken moved back to their home state and settled in Hiawatha, Iowa. After Kenneth passed away, Lois kept busy by becoming the nanny for Brandon DeWolf in Cedar Rapids. She also had a circle of friends who enjoyed the senior dances held in several small Iowa towns. And she faithfully attended church services each Sunday.

Lois moved to Texas in 1990 to be close to her immediate family. While still active she took on work as the “Granny” at Grandy's and the tea hostess at Luby's Cafeteria. She also started attending Senior Center functions,and in 2003, she was asked to dance by retired Navy man David Wilson. They maintained a graceful relationship and danced, ate out at local restaurants, watched DVDs of Bill Gaither and the Vocal Band and played with David's two dachshunds. They were members of the Go Forth Class at North Richland Hills Baptist Church.

When asked what Lois wanted to do in Heaven, she said, “I want to read to the children and sing.”