Obituary of Charleen M. Hedberg

Charleen Mae Collman Hedberg, 81, passed away on December 1, 2008, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics after an extended illness. A memorial service will be 10 a.m. Friday, December 5, 2008 at First Christian Church in Coralville, IA. Burial will follow at 2:30 p.m. at Highland Memory Gardens in Des Moines. Memorials may be made in Charleen’s name to University of Iowa Grateful Patient Program regarding the Respiratory Care Unit. Online condolences can be sent trough the web @ www.gayandciha.com. Born in Des Moines on October 10, 1927, to Jessie M. (Jones) and Willard W. Collman, Charleen attended Roosevelt High School. She graduated in 1945. She met the love of her life, Robert "Bud" Joseph Hedberg, in grammar school. Their first date was a junior high Sadie Hawkins dance. Charleen and Bud dated throughout high school, and Bud enlisted in the Army upon graduation. Even then, as a woman who knew what she wanted, Charleen proposed to Bud in 1945 as he departed for boot camp. Upon his return after his military service, they were married on March 8, 1947. During the interim, Charleen worked for the telephone company while she lived at home with her parents. Upon her marriage to Bud, Charleen fulfilled a life-long dream of being a wife, homemaker and mother. After her husband passed away in 1968, Charleen returned to the work force, eventually landing at Sears, where she worked until her retirement in 1993, after more than 20 years of service. Later she relocated to Perry, Iowa, where she enjoyed her friends, family, reading, and numerous crafts. Prior to her most recent hospitalization, Charleen had entered the Solon Nursing Care facility. Charleen was preceded in death by her husband, Bud, and her daughter, Phyllis Ann Hedberg Jungck. She is survived by her sister Elizabeth "Betty" Collman Thompson (Gerald), sons Bob Hedberg (Janice) of Topeka, Kansas; Tom Hedberg (Carol) of Pine River, Minnesota; her daughter Martha Hedberg-Latta (Mark) of Iowa City, Iowa; her ten grandchildren, Kristin, Eric, Daniel, Katie, Mollie, Sam, Jessie, Michael, Nathan and Camille; her seven great-grandchildren. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service of Iowa City is caring for Charleen’s services.