Dorothy Catherine Brecht

Dorothy Catherine Brecht

Blairstown

Dorothy Catherine Brecht, 103, of Blairstown passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Monday, March 20, 2023. She had had a second stroke and was at her daughter’s home with the support of Hospice of Mercy of Cedar Rapids.

The visitation will be Thursday, March 23, 2023, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church in Blairstown. A funeral service will be held at Grace Lutheran Church on Friday, March 24, 2023, at 10:30 a.m. with Rev. Jeff Schanbacher officiating. A lunch will be served after the service. Burial services will follow lunch at Keystone Cemetery at 2 p.m. Memorials may be directed to Grace Lutheran Church in Blairstown, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Keystone, or Central Lutheran School in Newhall.

Dorothy was born on July 30, 1919, to Anna Craemer Boehmke and William Boehmke in Keystone, Iowa. She attended country school, then St. John’s Parochial School and graduated from Keystone High School in 1936. She later received her teaching certificate from State Teacher’s College of Iowa (UNI). She taught at a rural grade school for eight years. Dorothy loved to dance and she taught her students to dance with tunes such as “The Muskrat Ramble.” She married Arthur Franzenburg in 1942 and together they had four children. They ran Art and Dot’s Dairy farm near Keystone for 24 years. Initially they took over the local Keystone dairy supplying bottled milk and cream to the town of Keystone and the local public school. When it became mandatory to homogenize milk they changed to selling whole milk to the dairy. In l963 Dorothy began work for the Superintendent of Keystone Consolidated Schools, Dale Grabinski, and later Benton Community School system as the Administrative Secretary. In 1971 Art died of a sudden heart attack. In 1972 Dorothy became secretary of the Grant Wood Area Education Association working for the coordinators in the Hearing and Vision Program. Then in 1976 Dorothy was approached to run for the political office of Benton County Clerk of Court. Making an all-out effort to give it her best shot, Dorothy canvassed door-to-door in every town in Benton County and much of the rural area. The effort paid off as she first won the primary and then later the general election, winning every precinct in the county and becoming the first Keystone High School graduate elected to county office. She served for 16 1/2 years. She married Leonard Brecht in 1978 and they lived in Blairstown where she continued to reside. Just like with her first husband, Art, they enjoyed dancing and went dancing two to three times every week. Leonard died on October 8, 2005.

Dorothy was a social butterfly and in addition to dancing enjoyed playing cards with family and friends. She was an avid Hawkeye basketball fan and tried to never miss a game on TV or the radio if it was not televised. The last game she visually saw was the miraculous comeback of the Iowa Men’s basketball game against Michigan State on Feb. 25, 2023, and the last game she heard was the Iowa Women advancing to the Sweet 16! It was always a gift for her to have have family and friends stop in for a visit. A special thank-you to Janet Offt Newton, who daily delivered her paper and mail, Alan and Bonnie Lueckenotto who did her lawn and yard work, Barb Martin who faithfully did her hair, and Pastor Schanbacher who faithfully visited and gave her spiritual care when she was unable to make it to church and multiple friends who stopped by regularly so that she could continue to live independently in her own home for 103 years.

Dorothy regularly read the Cedar Rapids Gazette, the Cedar Valley Times and the Star Press from cover-to-cover checking first the obituary’s to see if she was there. Today she is and we celebrate all that she was and now is in eternity.

She is survived by her brother Bill, her sister-in-law Ruby and her four children. Sue (Jimmy) of Florida, Kathryn (Bill) of Cedar Rapids, Sam (Kay) of rural Chelsea and Randy (Carol) of rural Keystone; nine grandchildren, Darren, Danya (Stan), Stephen (Kara), Jason, Binh (Ich), Anna (Angel), Sarah (Paul), Jared (Jessica), Miranda (Nate); and 17 great grandchildren, Jordan, Julia, Cade, Ella, Seth, Stella, Jonathan, Abby, Lilly, Stella, Grace, Oliver, Maggie, Lydia, Irelyn, Brixton, Rowen; several Godchildren and multiple nieces, nephews, and good friends.

Online condolences: www.phillipsfuneralhomes.com.