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Lena Dirks
LENA DIRKS
Anamosa
Lena Dirks, 93, died Saturday, Jan. 2, 2016, at the Anamosa Care Center following a brief illness. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 8, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Anamosa, with interment in Wayne Zion Cemetery. The Rev. Katie Lowe-Lancaster will officiate at the services. Friends may call from 3 until 7 p.m. Thursday at Goettsch Funeral Home, Anamosa.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established. Thoughts, memories and condolences may be left at www.
goettschonline.com.
Surviving are four children, Robert Dennis Dirks, Ontario, Calif., Marcia Dirks, Hesperia, Calif., Brenda (Stuart) Moore, Grand Junction, Colo., and Patricia Wilson, Cedar Rapids; two grandchildren, Craig Moore and Kellie Moore; and four great-grandchildren, Trevor Tolar, Jordan Moore, Sheridan Duncan and Taylor Duncan.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Robert in 1998; and her brother, Ray Freese.
Lena Marie Freese was born Dec. 30, 1922, at Amber, Iowa. She was the daughter of Carl and Marie Rickels Freese. She attended the rural schools near Amber and completed her education in the Anamosa Community Schools. Lena worked as a bookkeeper at the Amber Creamery.
She was sometimes called on to do the "men's work" loading trucks and driving a route. Lena married Robert Dirks, her first and only love, on March 1, 1945. They made their home in Cedar Rapids where Bob was a jeweler and watchmaker. They moved their business and family to Anamosa in 1950. Lena worked at Citizens Savings Bank in Anamosa for 18 years and then one year at the Jones County Courthouse before she retired. She had belonged to Wayne Zion Lutheran Church and later St. Paul Lutheran Church.
Lena loved to do genealogy and researched three branches of her family tree and published books that were acquired by many family members. Her research led her to visit Germany and become acquainted with relatives in the "old country." They kept in touch for many years. Lena was a special and kind person who was loved by many.
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