FERN I. MUELLER, 94, of Cherokee, Iowa passed away Sunday evening January 17, 2016 in the Cherokee Villa Nursing & Rehab Center.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, January 22nd at 10:30 a.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee, Iowa. Pastor Jon Riggert will officiate. Burial will be in the Oak Hill cemetery at Cherokee. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at the church on Friday. Visitation will be on Thursday 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 in Cherokee, Iowa. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com The family requests memorials to the Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee.

Fern Ilene Mueller was born on March 25, 1921 at LeMars, Iowa to Leo & Mamie (Utesch) Halweg. Following her graduation from Grand Meadow High School in 1939, she attended the National Business Training School in Sioux City for one year. She was then employed in Cherokee with Lee Miller and Herb Ambrecht insurance agents and with the American Theatre as a cashier. During World War II, she also served as a member of the Rationing Board in charge of distributing commodities.

Fern was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith, and on June 18, 1942, she was married to Darrell W. Mueller of Peterson, Iowa, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee. This marriage was blessed with three children-Marlin, Jolene, and Myron.

The couple farmed in the Peterson area for many years. During these years, Fern also worked as a cook and house sitter at the Midwest Christian Home, located south of Peterson.

The Mueller's retired from farming in 1975 and moved to Cherokee. At that time, Fern took several correspondence classes through Iowa State University to receive her CDA credentials, becoming a Head Start teacher and serving in that position for 15 years. After her Head Start career, she volunteered at three different nursing homes in Cherokee in their activities department. She later accepted a salaried position at Careage Hills Nursing Home, which she held until her retirement in 2002.

Fern taught Sunday school and Confirmation classes at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cherokee and was an active member of the Martha Circle. She loved to cook and play cards, and she found an abundance of joy spending time with her family and friends. In 2002, she moved from her home on Poplar Drive to Willowbrook Apartments where she resided until July of 2012. At that time she entered the Cherokee Villa Nursing & Rehab Center and remained under their loving care until her death on Sunday evening.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Darrell in 1983, a daughter Jolene Davis in 2001, sister-in-law Velma (Mueller) Mangold and her husband Wilbur, sister-in-law Laura (Mueller) Buddenhagen and her husband Arthur, and nephews William Mangold and Wallace Buddenhagen.

She is survived by her two sons: Marlin Mueller and his wife Bernice of Wentzville, Missouri; Myron Mueller of Valencia, California; son-in-law: Steve Davis of St. Francis, Minnesota. Also cherishing her memory are four grandchildren: Scott (Paula) Mueller of Appleton, Wisconsin; Michele (Chris) Neuhart of Woodstock, Illinois; Sarah(Nick) Ringwelski of St. Francis, Minnesota; Justin (Brenda) Davis of Orrock Township, Minnesota; three great grandchildren: Evan, Brett, and Trey Neuhart; her brother Armand (Barbara) Halweg of Edina, Minnesota; also many devoted nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.