Maureen Menster

Maureen Menster

Sigourney

Maureen Ann Dolan Menster, 76 passed away on Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2022, peacefully at her home in Sigourney, with her family at her bedside after defeating breast cancer and most recently a four-year battle with ovarian cancer.

Visitation will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on Friday, Aug. 26, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, with funeral Mass to follow at noon. Maureen requested her services to be a Celebration of Life, to honor this please wear bright colors. Burial will take place in Cascade, Iowa, at St. Mary’s Cemetery on Saturday, Aug. 27, at noon. Maureen’s family will be available 45 minutes prior to internment to greet family and friends. Services are being handled by Holm Funeral Home in Sigourney, Iowa. A tribute wall has been set up at to provide online condolences.

Maureen was born to Joseph J. Dolan and Leona S. Andresen Dolan on June 30, 1946. Maureen was eldest of the first set of triplets born in Dubuque, Iowa. Raised in Dubuque, she had a passion for recreational outdoor activities by being part of the Dubuque Recreational Society Program for Adolescents. She was a 1964 graduate of Wahlert Catholic High School in Dubuque. She married William R. Menster on June 17, 1967, in Dubuque, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church. After high school, she worked as a telephone operator at Northwestern Bell in Dubuque. In 1968 Maureen and Bill moved to Cascade, where she worked as a teller at the Cascade State Bank. Bill and Maureen then moved to Gilbertville, Iowa, where she worked at Northwestern Bell until September of 1972; when they moved back to Cascade, she became a stay-at-home mom putting her four children through their only time in the service known as the “Maureen Corp.” In 1986 she began working at the Sigourney Schools as para-educator and chief negotiator for the para-educator association until her retirement in 2011.

Maureen was a member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Sigourney, the Retired Teachers Association, The Red Hat Society and was also a scout leader. Maureen was so humble that she would not consider her selflessness as virtuous. Maureen thought so much of others that she chose to take part in an experimental drug study to fight ovarian cancer with the University of Iowa so that future generations could benefit from the results. She will be remembered for thinking of others first, the love for her family, and living her life by emulating her favorite song “Humble and Kind.” Her motto “Just Show Up” shows her love of family and friends.

She is survived by her husband, Bill, of 55 years; their four children, Scott (Alicia) Menster of Bloomfield, Iowa, Chad (Leah) Menster of Falls Church, Va., Brian (Jane) Menster of Bettendorf, Iowa, and Julie (Joe) Jordhal of Sioux Falls, S.D.; and 14 grandchildren, Miles, Samuel and Ben Menster, Breanna and Emily Payne, Bo Menster, Kyle Simcox, Luke, Maggie and Lauren Menster, and Kiera, Jack, Grace and Nicholas Jordhal. She is also survived by her triplet sister, Mary (Ron) Kircher; triplet brother, Mike (Mary) Dolan and Dan (Judy) Dolan; and sisters-in-law, Kathy Dolan, Becky (Virgil) Duval, Donna Healy, LuAnn Simon and Joanie (Denny) Barnard. She is also survived by 22 nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, James; brother-in-law, Irwin Simon; and her mother and father-in-law, Ray and Florence Menster.

In lieu of flowers, Maureen has requested for donations to be made to the Keokuk County Hospice and Essence of Life Hospice who cared for Maureen over the last two weeks along with her family.