Jennifer Buls

1982 - 2024

Jennifer Buls

March 26, 1982 - July 24, 2024

Jennifer Buls, age 42, of Mason City, IA, passed on Wednesday, July 24, 2024, at MercyOne North Iowa Medical Center.

Memorial services will be held 11:00 a.m. Thursday, August 1, 2024, at the Riceville Community Center, in Riceville, IA, with Pastor Mathais Wolberg officiating. A private family burial will be held in Howard Cemetery, in Elma, IA. Visitation will be from 3:00-8:00 p.m. Wednesday, July 31, at Hindt-Hudek Funeral Home, 407 Woodland Ave., Riceville. Visitation will continue an hour prior to the time of service on Thursday, at the community center.

Jenny was born on March 26, 1982, to Dean and April Buls, in Osage, IA. She was a 2000 graduate, of Crestwood Senior High School. After high school, Jenny briefly attended Loras College and was a member of the track & field as well as women's basketball teams, before transferring to North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC,) in Mason City, IA. While attending NIACC, Jenny was a member and starting point guard for the women's basketball team. After NIACC, Jenny was recruited and signed to play basketball at Waldorf University in Forest City, IA, and graduated with a bachelor's degree, in Sport & Business Management.

Shortly after graduation, Jenny was hired as an assistant, women's basketball coach at NIACC. After 2 years of coaching, Jenny started working at the Mason City Clinic as a purchasing specialist, where she remained for many years. For the past 13 years, Jenny has been the Director of Purchasing Services, at Mitchell County Regional Health Center.

While Jenny was attending NIACC, she met her soulmate, Mark Vrba. They were united in marriage, on December 31, 2017, and she spent her life as a loving wife, aunt and cat mommy to Roamer. Though Jenny and Mark were only married for a short time, they spent a lifetime together, prior to marriage, as a couple since 2003. Their life together was full of love, activities and adventure! They did anything and everything together and lived each day for each other.

Jenny had many passions in life, first and foremost being family, and she always found ways to incorporate family into her other passion, which was fitness. Jenny loved playing softball, running, biking and swimming, and competed in numerous road races and triathlons over the years with her family. There was rarely a day in the life, of Jenny and Mark, where they didn't go for a walk, run, swim or bike together.

Jenny had a special bond with her niece and nephews and always included them in these road races and triathlons, either as competitors or just bringing them along to watch. She always went out of her way to spend time with them and go to their sporting events. It was also not uncommon to hear her yelling above the crowd at her niece and nephew's sporting events with words of encouragement. Jenny, like her father, never missed an opportunity to let her opinion be known and tell them they were doing something wrong, because it wasn't the way she would do it. Jenny lived for those kids and loved them with all of her heart!

Jenny is survived by her husband, Mark, along with her mother April Buls of Lime Springs, IA; two siblings, Vincent (Karen) Buls of Tipton, IA, and Alex (Ashley) Buls of Cresco, IA; and their children, Austin, Ashton, and Addisyn. Jenny was preceded in death by her father, Dean.