Obituary of Lois Bernice Parrott

Lois B. Parrott, 82, of 1128 Spruce St. in Iowa City, died at 6:30 Monday evening, August 14, 2006 in Mercy Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, surrounded by her family, following a lengthy illness. Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Friday, August 18, 2006, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City with burial at Oakland Cemetery in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 3 to 7pm Thursday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in her memory to the American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Association. Online condolences may be sent for her family through our website @www.gayandciha.com. Lois was born at 6:13 on the evening of October 12, 1923 at 346 North Rice Street in Kewanee, Illinois as the fifth of fourteen children of the Swedish immigrant John B. Bengston and his wife Elsie Bernetta (Martin) Bengston. She spent her earliest youth in rural Henry County, Illinois, moving back into the town of Kewanee in 1932, where she attended public schools until 1937. She then did babysitting and housekeeping until about 1940, when she was employed by the NYA (National Youth Administration), first in Kewanee sewing uniforms for defense plants and later in Sycamore, Illinois, where she worked as a drill operator, in the spirit of “Rosie the Riveter.” Lois later worked as a waitress at the Motor Inn Café, a truck stop in Yorktown, Illinois, where she met her future husband, a truck driver from Iowa City. Following her employment in Yorktown, she worked as a waitress at Hawkinsons’ Home Restaurant in Prophetstown, Illinois until 1943, when she moved to Iowa City. On November 6, 1943, she was married in the rectory of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church in Iowa City to Charles F. Parrott III. Their wedding was followed by what some locals recall was the last charivari held in Iowa City. The couple resided at 1126½ and 1029 North Dodge Street, and later at 1014 North Summit Street until 1950, when the family moved to a farm near Cosgrove. They remained in the Cosgrove area until 1963, when they finished building their home at 1128 Spruce Street in Iowa City. Lois spent the first 15 years of her married life as a housewife, but went to work for Owens Brush Company on May 15, 1959. She remained in their employment until January 3, 1986, when she retired. Following four years of retirement, she then worked for Taco John’s in Coralville from 1990 to 1995. Her husband Charles was owner of Parrott’s Truck Painting Co., Inc. in Coralville until his death on July 19, 1989. Lois was an avid Bingo player and antique glass collector, a long-time member of the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Aerie No. 695, in Iowa City, and a life-long Cubs fan. She also enjoyed reading mystery novels and traveling, having made three trips to Europe between 1980 and 1986. She was the first in her family to visit her father’s birthplace of Hagestad in the parish of Löderup, Sweden, and also traveled extensively in Germany, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Liechtenstein, Czechoslovakia, England, and the Isle of Man. She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; three brothers Hayden, Robert, and Gerry Bengston; three sisters Betty Nash, Donna Elaine Bengston, and Karen Bengston; a son-in-law Donald Jerrell; and her son Mark on Dec. 20, 2001. Lois is survived by four sisters Darlene Holevoet of Galva, Illinois, and Roberta Winter, Jo Ann Fargher and June Negley of Kewanee, Illinois; three brothers William Bengston of Janesville, Wisconsin, Bernard Bengston of Homosassa, Florida, and Gene Bengston of Crystal Lake, Illinois; four children Constance Moffett and her husband Joe Moffett of Frisco, Texas, Melissa Jerrell of Tucson, Arizona, Debra Solano and her ex-husband James White of North Liberty, and Timothy Parrott of Iowa City; a daughter-in-law Julie Parrott of Cedar Rapids; eight grandchildren Jeffrey Moffett and his wife Michelle, Loryssa Howard and her husband Scott, Jennifer Krueger, Adam Parrott, Christine Fimbres and her husband Joey, Keith Jerrell, Angela Betts and her husband Kenneth, and Lynn White; seven great-grandchildren Kayla and Maddison Moffett, Trace, Gage and Zoë Howard, Michael Fimbres, and Joseph Kraus; numerous nieces and nephews; as well as relatives in Sweden. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service of Iowa City is caring for Lois family and her services.