Lucille I. Hass

Lucille I. Hass, 96, a resident of Riverdale, Iowa died on Friday, January 23, 2009 at Manor Care Nursing Center in Davenport, Iowa.
Her funeral service will be held at 10:00 A.M. Monday, January 26, 2009 at the McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Chapel in Bettendorf, Iowa. Burial will be in Davenport Memorial Park. Visitation will be from 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Sunday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to the Riverdale Fire Department.
A remarkable journey of 96 years comes to an end. Days before the unsinkable Molly Brown survived the Titanic; Lucille Hass began her path in this life on the grassy plains of Kansas. A journey that saw her through the twentieth century and took her to places as distant as the Great Wall of China, the Panama Canal, the Roman coliseum and the Scottish highlands. Most importantly, she was the much loved and strong willed matriarch of a family that began with five children that now extends to thirteen grandchildren, sixteen great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren.
The family was her greatest pride and will now very much miss her loving and unforgettable presence. Lucille grew up in the hardscrabble farmlands of Kansas and South Dakota and as a young woman during the height of the great depression she sought a better life in Iowa. She found that life and firmly planted roots in the township of Riverdale, a place she called home for 72 years.
She took pride in being the town’s most senior citizen and this feeling was recently reciprocated by giving her the position of honor in the town’s Fourth of July parade. When she first settled in Riverdale she helped build a fancy poultry farm that sent award winning livestock around the world. During the Second World War she lost her youngest brother during the conflict in Italy and was inspired by the new generation of women that were entering the work force to replace the boys oversees.
After the war, she supported her family as a nurse’s aide at Mercy Hospital and Masonic Home and by working in the Alcoa canteen, all while raising her children. Her much deserved retirement saw no loss in activity as she vigorously pursued her many passions such as gardening, music, dance, friends and family. She enjoyed entertaining others on the organ and accordion, as she had learned from her immigrant French Canadian family as a child. She found an active social life filled with music, dancing and friends within local organizations including Eagles, Mothers of WWII, VFW and the Moose Lodge. With the Plus 60 club she satisfied her wanderlust and traveled with her friends to all corners of the world.
Yet, her heart was always with her extensive and boisterous family and their love for her remains as her greatest legacy. Survivors include her son Donald (Barbara) Prewein, Deltona Florida, Delores (Dick) Wells, Riverdale, Iowa, Maryann DeDecker (Stan) Port Byron, Illinois and Lucille Mooney, Bettendorf, Iowa. She was preceded in death by her husbands; her son John Henry Hass Jr. of Des Moines, Iowa; three sisters & two brothers.