Darlene Baumgartner

DARLENE M. BAUMGARTNER

Cedar Rapids

Darlene M. Baumgartner, 91, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016, at the Ed and Joan Hemphill Hospice Unit at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids. A Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 8, at First Congregational Church Chapel, 316 17th St. SE, Cedar Rapids, with Pastor Melanie Van Weelden officiating.

Darlene was born on March 29, 1925, in Buchanan County, Iowa, the oldest of five children to Thelma (Milroy) and Nelson Hamblin. She moved often as a child. She graduated from Amana High School, where she met her husband, Frank H. Baumgartner. She graduated as an RN from St. Luke's, working at the hospital for many years, eventually becoming head nurse. She later became director of nursing at Colonial Manor in Amana and Meth-Wick Manor in Cedar Rapids.

Her husband, Frank, died in 2008.

She is survived by her brother, Richard Hamblin; sisters, Betty Jo (Earl) Smith, Mabel Ann (Robert) Dighton and Judith (Gerald) Henderson; her children, Rebecca Franks, Randall (Cheryl) Baumgartner and Victoria Aarhus; her grandsons, Danny (Heather) Franks and Nathan (Lisa) Aarhus; and great-grandchildren, Abby, Zander and Olivia Franks and Lillian and Boden Aarhus. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by several brothers- and sisters-in-law.

Darlene touched the lives of many with her compassionate care and devotion to nursing.

A very special thank-you to the nursing, palliative and hospice teams at UnityPoint St. Luke's Hospital.