Erika Lea Hempstead

Erika Lea Hempstead

Center Point

Erika Lea Hempstead, 41, of Center Point, Iowa, died Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, at the Dennis & Donna Oldorf Hospice House of Mercy in Hiawatha, Iowa. A Celebration of Life will be held from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23, at Ashton Hill Farm, 803 Vernon Valley Dr., Cedar Rapids, IA 52403; starting at 1 p.m. we will have the arrival of those who’d like to be present for the ceremonial portion. There will be a short ceremony with a handful of speeches at 2:30 p.m. and a casual visitation/celebration continuing afterward until 6 p.m.

Erika was born Nov. 10, 1980, in Oelwein, Iowa, the daughter of Royce and Nancy (Vargason) Penhollow. She graduated from Oelwein High School, Class of 1999, and went on to obtain her certification in integrative nutrition from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Erika was united in marriage to Travis Allen Hempstead on Sept. 8, 2007, in Oelwein. Travis and Erika owned and operated 11:11 Event Co. in Center Point.

Erika was very passionate about helping others through education about nutrition and the many modalities of cancer treatments. She was an inspiration to so many and was a provider of hope for a better quality of life. She was very focused on doing “all the things” for not only her own journey, but for anyone else she came in contact with. Everyone will tell you how amazing of a chef she was and the amount of knowledge she had about cooking. She was the best mother to her three girls and always pushed them and everyone around her to do the hard things and be the best they can be.

Survivors include her husband, Travis Hempstead of Center Point; daughters, Macee, Harper and Brielle Hempstead, all of Center Point; parents, Royce and Nancy Penhollow of Oelwein; sister, Angela (James) Scott of North Aurora, Ill.; brothers-in-law, Josh (Lori) Hempstead of Manchester, Iowa, and Kasey Hempstead of Cedar Rapids; in-laws, Kenneth and Karen Hempstead of Manchester; grandmothers, Virginia Rueber of Oelwein and Colleen Vargason of West Branch, Iowa; many nieces and nephews; her dog, Lily; and her cat, Willow.

She was preceded in death by her grandmother, Edith Penhollow; grandfathers, Walter Penhollow, John Rueber and Robert Vargason; aunt, Cindy (Penhollow) Reisen; her horse, Bricky; and her dogs, Zoey and Remy.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Erika’s Journey Foundation at www.facebook.com/bWellErika; or Venmo to: @Erikas-Journey-11.

Please share a memory of Erika at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.