Walker, Leona Ida (Bickal)

Leona lda (Bickal) Walker, 91, died peacefully at the Vinton Lutheran Home on Sunday, July 21, 2013. Services: 11 a.m. Thursday at Prairie Creek Church, rural Vinton, by the Rev. Dennis Sackett and the Rev. David Arnold. Burial: Evergreen Cemetery, Vinton. Friends may call from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and after 10 a.m. Thursday at the Prairie Creek Church. Papich-Kuba Funeral Service, Cedar Rapids, is serving the family.

Leona was born Dec. 31, 1921, in Benton City, Iowa. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Vinton in 1939 and attended Normal Teacher Training at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake. She taught in Benton County township schools.

Leona married Robert “Bob” Walker on Nov. 5, 1944. They farmed in Harrison Township for 38 years while raising five children. Leona was a longtime member of Prairie Creek Church and the Women's lndustrial Circle. She enjoyed quilting sewing, gardening and nurturing her children and grandchildren.

Leona is survived by her children, Susan (Alan Sharp) Walker, Joyce Bennett, Bruce (Meg) Walker and Peggy (Charlie) Hoffman; grandchildren, Andrea, Danielle, Katie, Addy, Daniel, Ann, Mehgan, April, Jessica and Taylor; and eight great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Bob; son, Brian; parents, Leon and lda Bickal; and brothers and sisters, Helen Goodell, Harold Bickal, Elsie Engeldow, Florence McGowan and Albert Bickal.

Memorials may be directed to the family or to the Alzheimer's Association.

Online condolences may be left for the family at under “obituaries.”

Published in The Gazette July 24, 2013.

Updated survivors; republished July 25, 2013 in The Gazette