Ruth "Dolly" Flinn

Ruth L. Flinn, better known as "Dolly" to her family and friends, passed away on Monday, September 15, 2025.

She was born at home in the rural Valley Junction/Des Moines area on December 23, 1930 to George William and Ruth Florence (Anderson) Miller.

When she was born her mother called her, her beautiful baby doll. Soon she became everybody's, Dolly.

She graduated in 1948 from St. Mary's Consolidated High School in St. Mary's, Iowa.

She met her husband Irvin Flinn through a cousin. They were married on January 18, 1951. They had two children, Donald and Ronald Flinn.

Dolly loved vacation time when they could go tripping. She eventually was in all of the 48 lower states, Mexico and Canada. She loved going west to the mountains. Finally, Irv said if he had to go look at one more mountain, he would not go tripping with her any more. Dolly didn't like history in school. She thought that traveling east would be a terrible trip because that is where history began. However, she found the eastern states quite interesting.

Dolly was a caretaker of the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery for many years, including 30 years of mowing. She has been the Secretary since 1959. She was also the sexton and in charge of selling and marking graves for burial. In later years, her son, Don, helped her when needed.

She raised a large garden and enjoyed canning tomatoes, beans and also froze corn for her kids and grandkids as they grew up and had families of their own.

Her many hobbies included embroidery, crocheting, Tri-Chem liquid embroidery and quilting. She loved birds and anything with nature.

In 1986, a friend talked her into going to the Iowa Genealogy Society. Dolly became an avid researcher. She researched all ancestor lines of her and Irvin's families. She recorded her research using a genealogy program on her computer. When she started researching, she found going east was where all of the genealogy history was located before their families migrated, settling in Iowa. She visited many courthouses, libraries and cemeteries digging through old books looking for her family's histories. She found some unexpected history which helped to make genealogy more exciting.

After Irv's death in 1994 her son Ron became her traveling buddy. One of the many places that she and Ron went was to Gettysburg. She found her great-grandfather, Valentine Miller's name on the wall at Gettysburg as a Civil War Veteran.

Dolly was a lifetime member of the Warren County Historical Museum and Library. She was also a member of the Iowa Genealogy Society, Lawrence County Library in Bedford, Indiana, John Hays Museum and Library in Salem, Indiana, Henry County Museum and Library in New Castle, Indiana, New England Historical and Genealogy Society, Martha's Vineyard Museum and Ancestry. She had been the Clerk of Linn Township and was a Trustee of Linn township.

She had been a longtime volunteer at the Iowa Genealogy Society and issued their Pioneer Certificates for 20 years. She received special recognition for her volunteering at the IGS Library. She also received awards for her work at the State Historical Library for her work on the birth records project and the probate records. She co-authored the Valentine Miller book and was working on updating it with a 2nd addition. She researched the people in the Pleasant Ridge Cemetery and had compiled over 2000 pages of information. She was currently working at doing the same for the St. Mary's Cemetery. She enjoyed helping others research their families and made many friends through researching.

Dolly spent countless hours transporting her grandkids around, getting them to and from appointments and events. She planned separate vacations to take the grandkids to Colorado and all place in between. They were able to visit caves and hike nature paths. The grandkids were able to have sleepovers at her house every Friday night with donuts for breakfast on Saturday morning. Dolly loved every minute!

Dolly's grandchildren spent many hours with her. When they were little, Dolly took them to McDonald's every Saturday for lunch. As they grew older, they wanted to go someplace different. They each had to take turns choosing where to go. She continued to go to lunch on Saturday with whoever was available. She cooked Sunday dinner every Sunday for 60 years.

Dolly is survived by her two sons, Don and Ron; her grandchildren, Kerry (Dustyn), Katie, Sharon (John), Wade (Katie Jo), and Will. She has 10 great- grandchildren, Alexander, Addison, Tristan, Piper, Gracelyn, Hudson, Wyatt, Christabelle Ruth, Halle and Ryder.

Dolly is preceded in death by her parents, husband, infant brother and infant great-granddaughter Taylor.

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m., Thursday, September 18, 2025 at Overton Funeral Home in Indianola. The funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, September 19, 2025 at Overton Funeral Home with burial to follow in Pleasant Ridge Cemetery at Orilla, Iowa.

Memorial contributions may be directed to Pleasant Ridge Cemetery to add to their Avenue of Flags.