Mary Ann Hotka

MARY ANN HOTKA

Iowa City

Mary Ann was born May 30, 1929, to John and Helen (Hudachek) Thuerauf. She grew up on farms near Solon, Iowa, and attended Solon schools. She earned an elementary teaching certificate and a secretarial science degree from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. She married Wesley Hotka in 1949 and raised five children on their farm five miles southeast of Iowa City. There, they raised hogs and cattle, corn and soybeans.

She worked for the College of Education at the University of Iowa, and also in a federal program that brought handicapped students into mainstream classrooms for the first time. She organized CCD classes for three Iowa City parishes and taught a seventh-grade confirmation class. She enjoyed planning family reunions, photography, family genealogy, meeting with a neighborhood club over many years, and teaching piano to her grandchildren. Over the years, she sewed her love into wedding ring quilts for all her children and most of her grandchildren.

After Wesley's death in 2000, Mary Ann moved to River Falls, Wis., where she enlarged her circle of friends while continuing to visit her Iowa family and friends. When she developed symptoms of dementia she moved to Wellhaven Senior Housing in River Falls and then to Catholic Eldercare in Minneapolis.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 51 years, Wesley F. Hotka; her sister, Patricia; her sister, Dorothy (later known as Sister Mary John, then Sister Jean); her brother, Bernard; and her brother, Paul; as well as her daughter-in-law, Jan Mitchell-Hotka.

Survivors include her brother, David (Ann) and sister-in-law, Theresa; brother-in-law, Marvin Spychaj; her children, Linda (Patrick) Singel of River Falls, Wis., Louise (Jill Meyer) Hotka of Minneapolis, Minn., Michael (Cathy) Hotka of Washington, D.C., Gary (Cynthia) Hotka of Iowa City, Iowa, and Dennis (Marla Ryerkerk) Hotka of Prole, Iowa; 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

A funeral Mass at St. Wenceslaus Church in Iowa City will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 8, 2021, with a visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. the evening prior at Lensing Funeral Home in Iowa City. A private burial will follow the Mass. The family respectfully requests that masks be worn.

We wish to thank Father Jerry Harris of St. Bridget Church in River Falls, Wis., and the staff at both Wellhaven Senior Housing in River Falls and Catholic Eldercare in Minneapolis.

Memorials may be made to Catholic Charities and online condolences may be shared at www.lensingfuneral.com