Roberta W. Onken

Roberta “Bert” W. Onken passed into God’s peace on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 at her home in Glidden. Funeral service will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at Peace Lutheran Church in Glidden with Pastor Brian Licht officiating. Friends may call at the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Glidden after 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday where there will be a prayer service held at 6:30 P.M. The casket will be moved to the church at 9:00 A.M. on Wednesday where visitation will resume until the time of service. Organist for the service will be Patti Patrick and soloist will be Carl Wilburn. Burial will be in the Merle Hay Memorial Cemetery near Glidden. Casket bearers will be Tyler Lucht, Kesley Richardson,Dustin Lucht, Keegan Richardson, Weston Lucht, and Bruce Jepson. In lieu of flowers, family suggests memorials be made to St. Anthony Hospice or the Lupus Foundation of America and may be left at the funeral home or the church. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Dahn and Woodhouse Funeral Home in Glidden and online condolences may be left for the family at www.dahandwoodhouse.com She was the daughter of Robert Lee and Grace (Koppe) Hoxworth, born on November 17, 1937 in San Pedro, California. In her youth, she maintained leadership roles in Girl Scouts and Civil Air Patrol. Following graduation from San Pedro High School in 1955, she then attended business school, at Chapman University. Her career began as office manager/medical assistant for a private practice and she served three years in the rank of Airman First Class with the United States Air Force Reserve 452nd Tactical Hospital Squadron as Chief Administration Clerk at the Long Beach Air Force Base, California. On August 3, 1958, she and Richard L. Onken, son of Edwin and Rosetta (Best) Onken, were married at Trinity Lutheran Church, San Pedro, California. From their union they raised three daughters: Debra Dawn; Cheri’ Fawn; Darla Christine. In 1967, the family moved to Soldotna, Alaska for three years of employment. Thereafter they returned to their San Pedro, California home where Roberta worked as an evening Adult School Bookkeeper at the local high school and an Emergency Room Admitting Clerk at the hospital. In 1974, the family moved to rural Glidden, Iowa and purchased an acreage at 29628 120 Street. She was employed by Paul Zimbeck, owner of the Wilson-Zimbeck Insurance Agency and Lanesboro Branch Manager of the Commercial Savings Bank, as a secretary and bank teller and secured her Property/Casualty Insurance License. She served as City Clerk for the City of Lanesboro for nine years. She retired as Branch Manager for the Commercial Savings Bank, December 31, l998. On Mother’s day, 2012 she and Dick moved to their current residence in the City of Glidden. She was a member of Peace Lutheran Church, Glidden, where she taught confirmation classes and served as Congregational Treasurer over a period of 35 years. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, tatting, knitting, and several trips across the U.S, Europe and Great Britain doing genealogy research on her family tree. Roberta is survived by her husband of 56 years, Richard (Dick); children Debra (David) Lucht of Minburn, Iowa; Cheri’ (Gary) Schroer of Glidden, Iowa; and Darla (William) Richardson of Manvel, Texas; seven grandchildren: Tyler, Dustin, and Weston Lucht, Emily and Jessica Schroer, and Kesley and Keegan Richardson; five great-grandchildren; a brother, Martin Ira Hoxworth and wife Marcia; and several nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband’s parents Edwin and Rosetta Onken, brother-in-law Kenneth Onken, sister-in-law and husband, Arlene (Onken) and Robert Treadway.