Delores Lienemann

Delores Lienemann age 73 of Bassett, IA died Thursday, January 30, 2020, at New Hampton Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. Friends may greet the family from 4:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Monday, February 3, 2020, at Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory -- Olson Chapel in Nashua where there will be a 6:30 scripture service and memory sharing. Private family interment will be at a later date at Sunnyside Memory Gardens in Charles City. Honorary pallbearers are Alex Zwanziger, Abby Johnson, Alli Wilken, Nathan O'Neill, Brandy Hoffman, Katelyn Lienemann, Tesla Beau, Zachary Lienemann, Ainsley Lienemann, Ashley Lienemann, Lucas Lienemann, Colby Lienemann, Kendall Lienemann, Nash Lienemann. Delores Marie Lienemann was born on March 18, 1946, to Dale and Sophia (Stanko) Pratt at the Cedar Valley Hospital in Charles City. She was the fourth of five Pratt children and grew up on a farm near Nashua, where she learned the value of hard work at an early age as she helped her parents with chores around the farm. She attended country school before transferring to Nashua High School. Delores married Gary Lienemann, and the couple welcomed five children — Lisa, Laurie, Larry, Lee and Loren — and the kids remember their mom as a hard worker, great provider and a no-nonsense but loving mother. They still recall the sound of the pressure cooker on their farm a couple of miles north of the Little Brown Church, the speed in which she could butcher chickens and the fact that their mother could whip up a meal, and a tasty one at that, in “no time at all.” When Loren entered kindergarten at Nashua Elementary School, Delores went back to school and earned her GED, a degree that meant much to her. She became the 13th person to take a job at what was then a little manufacturer, TriMark, in New Hampton, and when she retired after 34 years on the job, she ranked No. 2 in seniority. Delores was the kind of person who came to work every day to do the job right. If you worked with Delores, you worked hard that day. Delores and Gary eventually divorced, and she then made her home in Bassett. She loved her children, but she adored her 14 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren so much so that her kids joke that “she liked them a lot more than us.” She wasn’t a “spoiling” kind of grandma, but she taught her grandchildren and great-grandchildren the same lessons — namely, when you work hard, you give 100 percent all the time — she gave her children years ago. When she retired from TriMark, her children’s gift to her was a Master Gardener class because they knew Mom loved to spend time tending her vegetables and flowers. She also was a waitress at a few local restaurants which she enjoyed for the socialization. She loved stopping in Ionia after work for coffee and pie at the Hideaway. Delores left a lasting impression on all she met, and her family, friends, and co-workers will miss this unique woman, whose picture should probably appear in the dictionary’s entry for “work ethic.” Delores is survived by two daughters, Lisa (Dan) Zwanziger of Nashua, IA and Laurie (Dean) Hoffman of Ionia, IA; three sons, Larry (Michelle) Lienemann of Lakeville, MN, Lee (Becky) Lienemann of Platte City, MO, Loren (Angie) Lienemann of Dows, IA; fourteen grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; one sister, Diana Rankin of Nashua, IA; one sister-in-law, Janet Pratt of Nashua, IA; one brother-in-law, Darrell Janckila of Minnesota. She was preceded in death by her parents; two sisters, Em Janckila, Mary Alderman; one brother, Delbert Pratt.