MABELLE M. PECK, 98, of Cherokee, Iowa, passed away Wednesday morning, November 6, 2013 at the Countryside Estates in Cherokee.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, November 9th, at 11 a.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee. Pastor Barb Dinelli will officiate. Visitation with the family present will be one hour prior to service time at the funeral home on Saturday. It was Mabelle's wish to gift her body to medical research. Burial of her remains will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Cherokee at a later date. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to CRMC Hospice or St. Paul's United Methodist Church.

Mabelle was born on September 9, 1915 in Nebraska to Harold & Phoebe (Ritter) Byram. She graduated from Calumet High School. She was married to Ronald Peck Sr. on December 18, 1934 at Sutherland, Iowa. She had worked for Woolworth's Dime Store in Cherokee and the Sioux Valley Memorial Hospital as head of the laundry department for many years, retiring in the late 1970's. She was a longtime member of the St. Paul's United Methodist Church. She had been a resident of the Cherokee area all of her adult life. In her early years, she was active in the Order of Eastern Star and the Cherokee Saddle Club. She attended the Meriden and Cleghorn Senior Citizens. She loved to play cards, attending garage sales, reading and crocheting afghans. She raised chickens, grew asparagus and strawberries in the garden which the family sold around the area.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Ronald Peck Sr. on February 19, 1977, an infant granddaughter Kelly Peck, a son-in-law Richard Turnquist, one brother and four sisters.

She is survived by her five children: Patricia (Norman) Van Klompenburg of Newton, Iowa; Verona Kay Turnquist of Cherokee, Iowa; Ronald (Karen) Peck Jr. of Peterson, Iowa; Dale (Carma) Peck of Peterson, Iowa; Richard (Janet) Peck of Cherokee, Iowa; 11 grandchildren; 25 great grandchildren; 14 great great grandchildren.