Dorothy Schourek

DOROTHY M. SCHOUREK

Cedar Rapids

Dorothy Schourek, nee O'Connell, 94, died Wednesday April 13, 2022, at the Rehabilitation Center of Lisbon in Lisbon, Iowa, after a brief illness. She was born at home on Nov. 25, 1927, in Westmont Ill., the daughter of Daniel and Nutris (Reiquam) O'Connell. Dorothy did many things to make her family smile and when we told others, they would smile too. She was a force of nature from a young age. A child of the Depression, she often spoke of the hobo camps near the railroad tracks close to their home. Dorothy pitched such a ruckus when her older sister went to school that Dorothy, 4, also attended the Lutheran school with her sister.

Dorothy graduated from Marshall High School in Chicago, Ill., in 1945. She did secretarial work in Chicago. Dorothy and her sister often spent their trolley fare on ice cream and would walk the 30 blocks home. She married Roy Schourek on Dec. 16, 1950, in Chicago and they moved to Genoa, Ill.,and later to Beardstown, Ill., for his work as a funeral director. In 1953, they moved to Moline, Ill., where they raised their two girls and participated in numerous community organizations. She was a Sunday school teacher, a PTA member and Brownie troop leader. She moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2013 to be closer to her daughter, Janet and family, and continued to live independently until 2020, still walking four miles each day.

Dorothy worked as a bank teller, a legal secretary and was the cashier in the business office at Augustana College. After Roy died in 1987, she went to work as a docent at the Butterworth Center and Deere-Wiman House in Moline. Tours began on the hour, if you were still parking the car, too bad, you waited. She retired at age 82. She was a deft organizer and efficient scheduler and even the cat, Samantha, was on a petting schedule. She was a 60-year member of Salem Lutheran Church in Moline. She joined St. Stephen's Church in Cedar Rapids, walking the eight blocks to church each Sunday.

She is survived by her daughters, Janet Johnson (Don Hoskins), Marion Iowa, and Louise (Scott) Stracke Miillville, Del.; grandchildren, Maureen (Cameron) Mulloy, Falls Church Va., and Paul (Clare) Stracke, Lorton, Va., Matt (Robyn Ross) Hoskins and Alexandra, Olivia, Cooper and Isabella , Marion Iowa; Lisa (Matt) O'Donnell, and children, Michaela and Kierian, Arnold Calif.; her sister, Barbara Leimer, Walnut Creek Calif., stepsisters, Patricia Rieken, Crest Hill, Ill., and Judy Stuyvesant, Lockport Ill.; nieces, Marilyn Anderson, Reno, Nev., and Joyce (Mark) Smith, Walnut Creek, Calif.; nephews, Carl Leimer, Santa Rosa, Calif., and Gary Leimer, Arcadia, Calif.; niece, Susan Steve) Mueller, Duluth Minn.; nephew, Dan (Gail) Schourek, ,Hampshire, Ill., and niece, Kris Raisanen Schourek, Atlantic Mine, Mich.; as well as many great-nieces and nephews and cousins. Her faithful dog, Molly, was a treasured friend.

In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her husband; her stepfather, Henry Larsen; a brother, Everett O'Connell; her in-laws, Lee Leimer, Edward R. and Marilyn Schourek; a nephew, Brad Schourek; and a niece, Linda Leimer.

A memorial celebration service is pending at a later date. Inurnment at Rock Island Memorial Park, Rock Island, Ill.

Tributes in her memory are suggested to Salem Lutheran Church, https://salemmoline.org/ Moline, Ill.; St. Stephen's Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, ssluth.com; Butterworth Center Deere Wiman House, www.butterworthcenter.com/ or an organization of choice.

Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Please leave a message for the family on the website www.cedarmemorial.com under obituaries.