Pauline Ewoldt

PAULINE EWOLDT

Traer

Pauline Alvena Ewoldt, 82, of Traer, died Friday, July 31, 2015, following a brief illness.

Visitation: 4:30 to 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 3, Overton Funeral Home, Traer. Services: 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4, Traer United Presbyterian Church. Burial: Oneida Cemetery, rural Clutier.

Memorials may be directed to the family.

Overton Funeral Home, Traer, is in charge of arrangements. Condolences may be left at www.

overtonservice.com.

Pauline was born on July 14, 1933, in rural Garwin, Iowa, the daughter of Art and Hilda (Boerm) Puls. She graduated from Garwin High School in 1950 and Iowa State Teachers College in 1952. She taught elementary school for seven years, two in Conrad and five in Traer. In 1950, Pauline met Loren Ewoldt when he asked her to dance a circle two-step at an outdoor dance in Garwin. They were married on June 21, 1954. They lived on the farm outside Clutier until 1997, when they moved to Traer.

In addition to raising her family, Pauline and neighbor, Norma Novotny, ran a local restaurant at the Traer Livestock Auction. For 10 years their cafe was a Wednesday gathering place for local people who enjoyed good home cooking. It was not unusual for them to sell 10 to 12 pies by the slice, and their homemade soups and sandwiches were varied and popular. The cafe closed in 1983. In 1984, Pauline started a nearly 30-year career working in the dietary department at Sunrise Hill Care Center, where she was known to bring homemade cookies in for her work colleagues even after she retired.

Pauline was the consummate farm wife and mother. She knew the satisfaction that hard work offered and instilled that value in her children. Whether cooking from scratch, helping on the farm, patching jeans, sewing tap dance outfits, mowing the yard on her Dixon ZTR or freezing 100 pints of sweet corn, she believed that anything worth doing was worth doing right. Attending school events and activities of her children and grandchildren gave her great joy throughout her life. A visit from her beloved grandkids typically ended with her reminding them to grab a dozen homemade cookies out of the freezer. Her proudest achievement was her family.

She was a member of the American Legion Auxiliary (Kubik Finch Post 142) and the Traer Presbyterian Church. In her spare time, Pauline enjoyed doing counted cross-stitch and her completed projects decorate the walls of family and friends. She also enjoyed playing penny machines at the casino and she met several lifelong friends riding to Tama on the casino shuttle.

She is survived by her husband, Loren of Traer; three sons, Dan (Sue) of Traer, Tom (Sherri Stoakes) of Alden and Greg (Deb Dralle) of Clutier; one daughter, Lori of Pine Island, Minn.; seven grandchildren, Andy (Kelly) of Grundy Center, Emily of Clutier, Trent of Waterloo, Tanner of Minneapolis, Lexi of North Liberty, and Laryn and Kortlyn of Clutier; one great-granddaughter, Savannah of Grundy Center; and one sister, Vernetta Wickham of Leavenworth, Kan.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Harold Puls; and one sister, Mildred Puls.