Iola Parsons

BRIGHTON ? Iola Ruth Lock Parsons, 91, of Richland, died Sunday, March 12, 2017, in University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City.

Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, March 17, at the Woolson Friends Church Fellowship Hall in Richland. Burial will be at the Blue Point Cemetery, followed by a dinner at the church. Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m., Thursday at the church. Memorials to the Woolson Friends Church or Gideons International, Sigourney Camp may be left at the church or mailed to the family at 1128 Ivy Avenue, Richland, IA 52585. Gould Funeral Home in Brighton is assisting with arrangements.

Mrs. Parsons was born Feb. 9, 1926, in rural Jefferson County, the daughter of Frank and Rilla Verl (Hadley) Lock. She married Wayne Russell Parsons on Aug. 10, 1947, at Woolson Friends Church.

She attended Packwood schools, and after graduation in 1943 she was a Teletype operator at the Dayton, Ohio, Air Force Base during World War II. She received her teachers certificate from the State Teachers College in Cedar Falls, and taught school at Eddyville and Richland. She and her husband resided on their farm south of Richland for 66 years. She was active in the Woolson Church, playing the piano for over 60 years. She belonged to Farm Bureau Women, Blue Point Cloverleaf Club, Richland Women?s Club, the Gideons Women?s Auxiliary, and the WCTU, serving as state president, and she was the librarian at the Richland Library for several years. She enjoyed her family, flowers, and reading, and was famous for her angel food cake and the quilts which she made for her family.

Surviving are her husband of nearly 70 years; two daughters, Rita Eastman and husband Dennis of Packwood, and Mary Beth Porch and husband Ron of Bradenton, Florida; one son, Tim and wife Nancy of Richland; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one brother, Wilfred Lock; one sister, Mida Thomas; and one grandson.