Celia Emma Mitschelen

Celia Emma (Brock) Mitschelen, a long time resident of Woodlands in Meth-Wick Community, died peacefully February 6, at the age of 97.
She was born Celia Emma Brock, the second daughter of Reverend James and Floyed (Beth) Brock in Hutchinson, Kansas in 1927. She was a resident of Madrid, Winterset, and most recently Meth-Wick in Cedar Rapids all here in Iowa. It was an uncommon name that was often corrected: Not Simon and Garfunkle's "Cecelia," but Shakespeare's As You Like It Celia.
She married Walter Mitschelen in college and took on the role of homemaker and mother to Jonathan, David, and Judith. In this case, homemaker, included actually designing and making the kitchen cabinets in the old house she and Walter purchased and remodeled. It was a time when women didn't work outside the home, but that didn't mean she wasn't busy. She took on the traditional roles of Sunday school teacher, choir director, and Cub Scout den mother.
Frugality was a virtue. She tended the garden and put up the produce. She sewed dresses for Judy and shirts for Jon and David and a suit for Walter that won a cash prize at the annual employee craft fair where he worked. She explored other ways to get money on her own. She always loved animals so she tried raising dogs, but the puppies had a tendency to eat up the profits before they sold. Selling her homemade Pup-Pets (puppy and cat hand puppets) at craft sales was more profitable.
She was a curious, life-long learner who loved to share what she knew. When Walter's family history caught her interest, she taught herself German, how to decipher the handwriting in old church records, and traveled to Germany to see the actual records. She then volunteered at the genealogy library and gave presentations.
She overcame and adapted to set-backs and hardships rather than dwelling on them. As a mother she got back on the pony she had always wanted as a child after falling off and breaking her rib. She used the fingers she still had to type and play the piano after losing one in the table saw. And when she could no longer care for herself due to dementia and went into memory care she thought it was nice to have "servants" in her new home and greeted everyone with a smile.
She is survived by her three children (Jonathan, David and Judy), four grandchildren (Aaron, Matthew, Lisa, and Anya), and four great grandchildren (Dane and Max Harvey, and Tye and Andi Polehna).