Colleen Lewis

1920 - 2016

Colleen Lewis, a beloved fixture in the community since 1960, died peacefully at her home in Iowa City on April 13 at the age of 95.

Funeral services will be held Saturday, April 16 at 2 PM at Zion Lutheran Church, Iowa City, with Rev. Mark Pries and Rev. Jennifer Lutz officiating. Visitation will be from noon to 2 PM at the Church. Burial will be at Memory Gardens Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the Zion Lutheran Church Music Department.

Through her decades of active leadership at Zion Lutheran Church, volunteering at Mercy Hospital, and work at the University of Iowa, she built a vast network of friends and admirers over more than 55 years. She worked first in the Department of Chinese and Oriental Studies, and for another 18 years at the University Hospital office of Pastoral Services.

Colleen Kralik grew up on a family farm near Creston in southwest Iowa, attended AIB, and worked in Des Moines, where she married Richard (Dick) Lewis at St. John's Lutheran Church in 1941, just before he was sent to the Pacific with the U.S. Army. After the war, the couple settled in Creston and raised a family of four children. They moved to Reinbeck and then Cedar Falls before settling in Iowa City in December of 1960.

She was a tireless volunteer at Zion and as a member of the Mercy Hospital Guild, a legendary and adventurous cook, and a sometime world traveler before her husband's death in 1995.

She survived by her children, Dianne Naumann (Dennis) of La Crosse, WI; Rick of Peguche, Ecuador; Tom (Beth) of Mt. Vernon, IA; and David (Mary) of Rhinebeck, NY; her sister, Edna Stone, of Mission, KS; 8 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

She was also preceded in death by her brother, Harry Kralik, and a grandson, Steve Gosse.

Arrangements are with Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service. Online condolences may be sent to www.lensingfuneral.com