Delores Phelan

Delores Phelan, 84, of Colfax, died Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015, at Newton Health Care Center. A funeral mass will be at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 19 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Newton. Burial will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the church or Skiff Hospice. Condolences may be left for the family at www.coburnfuneralhomes.com.

Delores, the daughter of Henry and Clara Hoganson, was born Oct. 8, 1930, in Marshalltown. She attended St. Mary’s School, graduating as salutatorian with the class of 1948. After graduation, Delores attended Iowa State University for two quarters until a fire destroyed her family home. She returned to help her parents and began her secretarial career at the Marshalltown Foundry. Later she moved to Minneapolis to work at the Minnesota Rubber Company and to spend time with extended family. Traveling was Delores’ passion, and she vacationed in several European countries, then moved to California. In the early 1970s, she returned to Marshalltown, where she was employed by the Department of Human Services. A new chapter in Delores’ life began when she met the love of her life, Tom Phelan, at a Catholic singles dance at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Des Moines. They were married on Sept. 8, 1973, at St. Mary’s Church in Marshalltown. She was a devoted partner to Tom on the farm, driving grain trucks and keeping the books for the Phelan Seed Company. She drove a school bus for the Colfax-Mingo School District, as well as transporting detasseling crews. She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Newton, and enjoyed golf, bowling, and traveling with Tom on various trips throughout the U.S.

Those left to honor Delores’ memory include her husband of 41 years, Tom Phelan; sisters Bobbi (Jim) Mead of Marshalltown, Elaine Silverwise of Houston, and brother George (Mary) Hoganson of Chicago; along with many nieces and nephews.