Elva Bertha Wolrab, 98, longtime resident in the Mount Vernon community, passed away peacefully on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Legacy Senior Living in Iowa City, surrounded by family.
Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 8, 2025, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Mount Vernon. Family will greet friends from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Private family inurnment will take place at the Mount Vernon Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Elva’s name to St. Paul Lutheran Church, 600 Fifth Avenue SW, Mount Vernon, IA, 52314.Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Services in Marion, IA, is assisting Elva’s family. Please share your memories on her tribute wall at www.murdochfuneralhome.com, under obituaries.
Elva was born Oct. 25, 1926, in Lu Verne, the daughter of Fredrick Herman and Martha Augusta (Behnkendorf) Hintz. She graduated from Lu Verne High School in 1944 and Des Moines School of Beauty in 1945. Elva moved to Mount Vernon in 1946, where she met Francis Wolrab.
They married in 1947 and shared 71 years together. Francis passed in 2018. Elva is survived by children Vicky (Michael) Petruzz- iello, Jacklyn Moore, Gail Logan, Glen Wolrab and Jill (Bill) Clark; 16 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great grandchildren; cousins, nieces and nephews. Elva was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Martha; siblings Lloyd, LeRoy, Lula, Elda and Edna; husband Francis; daughter Janette Wolrab Blinks; grandson Thomas William Floyd and special cousin Selma Behnkendorf Riedel.
Elva was a proud Iowa farm girl who grew up in Kossuth County, IA on a dairy farm that she lovingly called “the house on the hill.” There, family would help her father prepare and deliver fresh milk to residents of Lu Verne in a two-wheeled wagon pulled by horses. Elva learned to tap dance at the age of 7 and in later years gathered with family at barn dances where her father played the violin.
As a homemaker, Elva cherished country living and raised six children amongst flower and vegetable gardens, often canning vegetables to feed her family through the winter. Elva was noted for her cooking and baking. Family especially loved her rice pudding, kolaches and rhubarb pie. Elva was a 4-H leader, devout member of St. Paul Lutheran Church and its women’s organization, the Priscilla Guild. After her children were raised, Elva worked at a local daycare and loved taking care of babies and toddlers. She also enjoyed the relationships she formed with their families. Elva was a wife, mother, grandmother and friend to many. She will be deeply missed.
The family would like to thank Legacy Senior Living for their loving care while Elva resided there and St. Croix Hospice for its compassionate assistance. A special thanks to Rev. Sean Hansen, Pastor, St. Paul Lutheran Church, for his visits to Elva during her final days and hours.