Dolores Cuvelier, 88
Dolores Cuvelier, age 88 of Lawler, died Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023, at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital in Waterloo.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Lawler with the Rev. Nick Radloff celebrating the Mass.
Interment will be held at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Cemetery, Lawler with Adam Cuvelier, Grant Cuvelier, Matthew Cuvelier, Spencer Cuvelier, Cade Kuennen and Jim Hauer serving as pallbearers.
Friends may greet the family from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023, at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic Church in Lawler, where there will be a 7 p.m. Parish Scripture Service. Visitation continues an hour prior to the Mass at the church on Friday.
Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home and Crematory in New Hampton has been entrusted with arrangements.
Dolores Caroline (Bodensteiner) Cuvelier was born Dec. 12, 1934, on the family farm southeast of St. Lucas, the third child of Henry and Julia (Winter) Bodensteiner.
She received her education at St. Luke schools, graduating from St. Luke High School in May 1952. After graduation, Dolores stayed home and helped on the family farm while her brothers served their country in the military.
Dolores met Bob Cuvelier on a blind date arranged by a mutual friend. Their first date was a dance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.
Many dates later, Bob and Dolores were united in marriage on Jan. 19, 1955, at St. Luke Catholic Church in St. Lucas. They lived on different farms in the Lawler area until March 1962 when they bought an acreage south of Lawler. Bob worked for various feed and fertilizer plants in the area.
Dolores was a homemaker, tending a large vegetable garden and doing lots of canning and freezing of the produce and baking to feed their six sons.
In the fall of 1969, the parochial school in Lawler closed and Dolores became the director of religious education for Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish. Dolores, Father John Moran and many volunteer parents and parishioners set up the CCD program for grades preschool through high school. She worked from home and spent many evenings and weekends at church while Bob was home with the children.
In 1974, when all the children were in school, Dolores started working at Meyers’ Locker and Superette in Lawler, while still keeping her DRE position. In 1979, Dolores and Bob moved to Lawler. Dolores then became an employee at the State Bank of Lawler as an assistant cashier until 2004, when she retired. Dolores especially enjoyed her co-workers and the customers she served, as well as hosting bus trips to Branson, Missouri.
Bob and Dolores enjoyed traveling to various places. They made several trips to Alaska to visit their son and daughter-in-law and spent five winters snowbirding in Mesa, AZ.
In addition to gardening and traveling, Dolores very much enjoyed family gatherings and attending activities of the extended family, from the fine arts through athletics, at all levels, from little league through college.
In her later years, she loved watching football on TV, especially the Northern Iowa Panthers, Iowa State Cyclones, Iowa Hawkeyes, Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Green Bay Packers.
Dolores was a lifelong active member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church where she devoted many hours of volunteer time and labor. She was a member of the Parish Society and a 64-year member of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.
She held various offices in the American Legion Auxiliary and gifted innumerable volunteer hours to the community.
Dolores is survived by her six sons, John (Leslie) of Lawler, Gary (Nancy) of Lawler, Richard “Dick” (Lindsay) of Decorah, Thomas “Tom” (Sue) of Dubuque, Paul (Susan) of Mason City, and Mark (Renee) of Cresco; 13 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Donna Sokolik of Hampton, Dorothy (Don) Harmon of Anamosa, Carol Koenen of Hampton, and Jeannie Cuvelier of Sierra Vista, Arizona; and many nieces and nephews.
Dolores was preceded in death by her husband, Bob on April 20, 2015; her parents, Henry and Julia Bodensteiner; sister, Bernice (Greg) Hauer; brothers, Kilian (Elaine) Bodensteiner and Henry (Janet) Bodensteiner; great-granddaughter, Natalie Rose Kuhn in infancy; parents-in-law, Elmore and Iva (Vincent) Cuvelier; sisters and brothers-in-law, Albert (Billie) Cuvelier; Iven (Jean) Cuvelier; Orlo (Patricia) Cuvelier; Harley (Ruth) Cuvelier, Leland (LaVera) Cuvelier, Craig Cuvelier, Maxine (Burdine) Hahn, Sheryl Sokolik, Bill Koenen and Eva Cuvelier in infancy.
The family requests in lieu of flowers to please make donations to St. Croix Hospice at https://www.stcroixhospice.com/charles-city-ia/#call-to-action
The family would like to extend a special thanks to: Don and Judy Benz, Pat Lynch, Don and Sharl Kurtenbach, Linda Kuehner, Ken and Linda Schaufenbuel, Grace Arens, Karen Huber, Roger and Carla Dreckman, Lynnie Reicks, Roxanne Gray, Jan Reaman, co-workers from the State Bank of Lawler, and St. Croix Hospice.
