Kartel, Maria

Maria Kartel, 65, of Dyersville, died Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, from cancer at the University of Iowa Hospitals Clinics in Iowa City. aria was known and beloved by many as “The Flower Lady,” as she and her husband had a flower business since 1995 serving the restaurant and night clubs of the Dubuque and Cedar Rapids area.

Maria was born Feb. 24, 1946, in Gravina, Italy, the daughter of Nicola and Anna (Tota) Fracchiolla. She married Kevin Kartel on July 1, 1982. Maria worked in her brother's high fashion business in Milan, Italy, as the lead seamstress. She joined the Unification Church in Milan in 1977. In subsequent years, she did missionary work in England and then came to the United States in 1980. She was engaged to Kevin Kartel in December 1980 and Blessed in Holy Marriage on July 1, 1982, in Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y, with 2,075 couples - many of them international marriages. Kevin and Maria moved back to Dyersville, Kevin's hometown, in July 1992.

Maria was passionate about faith and family. For 14 years, she organized a local community celebration in Dyersville, celebrating National Parent's Day, a new federal holiday on the fourth Sunday of every July signed into law by President Clinton in 1994. Her life was lived in service and love for people of all faiths and backgrounds.

Friends may call from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Kramer Funeral Home in Dyersville where a Seung Hwa Ceremony will commence at 1 p.m. Burial services will be held immediately afterward at Mount Hope Cemetery in Dyersville.

Flowers may be sent to the Kramer Funeral Home, 103 Fifth St. SE, Dyersville, IA 52040. Memorials may be sent in care of the family at P.O. Box 102, Dyersville, IA 52040.

Online condolences may be left for the family at .

Published in The Gazette Sept. 14, 2011.