ELAINE NITZ, 90, of Cherokee, Iowa, and formerly of rural Larrabee, Iowa, passed away Wednesday morning, December 31, 2014 at her home in Cherokee.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 3rd, at 10:30 a.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee. Pastor Robin Thomas will officiate. Burial will be in the Cedar Cemetery at Larrabee, Iowa. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at the funeral home on Saturday. Visitation will be on Friday from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m. with the family present from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com The family requests that memorials be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Elaine was born on October 8, 1924 at Calumet, Iowa to George & Elsie (Smidt) Horstmann. She graduated from Calumet High School in 1942. During WW II, she worked for Western Union in San Antonio, Texas and Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was married to Robert J. Nitz on February 10, 1948 at the Little Brown Church at Nashua, Iowa. She and her husband lived on a farm north of Larrabee for many years and the past 9 years she has lived in Cherokee. Elaine was a member of the Larrabee United Methodist Church, United Methodist Women and a Birthday Club. She enjoyed sewing, cooking, baking and spending time with family.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a daughter Gwen Croft in 1995, her husband on November 18, 2001, a brother Elden Horstmann, a sister-in-law Mabel Horstmann and a brother-in-law Jack Ginger; sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law Geraldine & Alfred Boldt, Virginia & Dolan Olson.

She is survived by one son: John Nitz and his wife Ramona of Cherokee, Iowa; four grandchildren: Aaron (Mary) Croft of Polk City, Iowa; Robert (Elspeth) Nitz of Ankeny, Iowa; Eric Nitz of Minneapolis, Minnesota; James (Kara) Nitz of Cherokee, Iowa; three great grandchildren: Ava, Lauren and Adam John Croft; one brother: Leslie Horstmann of North Kansas City, Missouri; one sister: Delores Ginger of Primghar, Iowa; a sister-in-law: Bonnie Horstmann of Sutherland, Iowa; also several nieces and nephews.