Obituary of Mable R Lewis

Mable Ruth Lewis, age 95, of Villisca, Iowa, entered into peaceful rest on Thursday, May 23, 2019 at Good Samaritan Center. Graveside celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, June 1, at 2:00 pm at Villisca cemetery. Visitation will follow the service at the home of Wes and Carole Lewis, 3172 130th Lane, Villisca.
    Mable Ruth McFarland Lewis was born June 20 1923, in Montgomery County, Iowa, the daughter of Charlie and Irene Everett McFarland. She spent her entire life in this area, attending school in Villisca.
    She was 16 years old when she met the love of her life, Dale Lewis, at the “Candy Kitchen” in Villisca. On Christmas day, 1941, he asked her to marry him. Because of Iowa’s three-day waiting requirement, and the fact that Dale was leaving for the Army Air Corps the next day, they were married in the Methodist parsonage in Maryville, MO on January 17, 1942 with George and Iris Jean Dalby as witnesses. They were married at 4:30 pm, then hurried home so Dale could catch his 11:30 pm train to Michigan!
    Two sons were born to Dale and Mable: Wesley Eugene and Ronald Dale. She always said they didn’t want a “junior,” so she used Dale’s middle name for Wesley and his first name for Ron’s middle.
    Mable loved being a homemaker, wife, and mother. She cherished her husband and children and did whatever she could to make them happy. She never worked outside the home, but did babysit for several neighbor children, whom she adored. She always loved kids, no matter who’s they were.
    In 1959, Mable began a back-yard business raising registered American Eskimo dogs. Those dogs loved the cold weather which worked well living in Iowa. She started the business to help meet the upcoming college expenses of her two sons. The business thrived and she sold pups to residents of Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, Minnesota and Texas.
    Over the years, she wrote a memoire of her life which she passed on to her family. After Dale passed away in 2003, she moved to the Good Samaritan Center in Villisca and was somewhat active there for many years. She endured living with dementia with a smile on her face for all she encountered. Throughout the years she was a blessing to visitors and staff with that smile.
    Preceding Mable in death were her parents,  husband Dale, sister Patsy, brothers Frank and Don.
    Surviving are her sons, Wesley and Carole, Ron and Robin; granddaughter Anne Marie and fiancée Shawn, grandson Clinton Dale, sister-in-law, Martha Geist, and a host of nieces, nephews and friends.