Romelda V. "Ronnie" Westmark, 87, of Dubuque, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Friday, October 13, 2017 at Stonehill Care Center.
Friends may call from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 19 at the Hoffmann Schneider and Kitchen Funeral Home, 3860 Asbury Road, Dubuque. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 am on Friday, October 20, 2017 at the Cathedral of St Raphael, 231 Bluff Street, Dubuque.
Ronnie was born October 2, 1930 in Dubuque. She was the oldest daughter of George and Theresa (Wilhelm) Pappas. She and her parents and younger sister, Mary, lived downtown on Washington Street until they moved to their home on Simpson Street in the 40s. At that time, Simpson was sparsely populated and the Pappas family had a large garden, a lot of fruit trees, chickens, cats, and dogs on their land.
After graduating from high school, Ronnie worked as a secretary at the Adams Company, where she met the love of her life, Jim Westmark. They were married on October 22, 1955.
She started her own candle-making business in the 1970s and made wedding candles until she was in her 70s. She enjoyed b...[more]
baking cookies at Christmas time - many dozens of cookies were trayed up over the holidays and given to friends every December! She also loved to crochet and bought a lot of yarn during the many thrift-store shopping trips she and Jim made after his retirement. They loved to travel - sometimes on their own and sometimes with their grandchildren. Often the travel they did on their own involved a trip to a casino because Ronnie loved to gamble - especially the slot machines. She also enjoyed Bingo and many different card games.
She was very proud of her Greek heritage. Her father emigrated from Greece as a young man. She loved the music and she experimented with many Greek delicacies like baklava and kourabiedes. Possibly the Greek heritage was also behind her love of the sun. Even when she was wheel-chair bound at Stonehill, she loved to go outside and would roll up her pant legs and shirt sleeves to get the most sun possible. The staff at Stonehill joked that she was "solar-powered" because it made such a difference in her demeanor to soak up some rays.
She is survived by four children: Terri (Eric) Winsor of Luxemburg, IA; Steve (Sherrie) Westmark and Mike (Sue) Westmark of Dubuque; Gary Westmark of Princeton, MN; and six grand-children.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Mary, and her husband Jim.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of Dubuque, 1670 JFK, Dubuque
The family would like to thank the nurses, music therapists, and all the other people at Hospice of Dubuque who added to Ronnie's quality of life this year. They would also like to thank the staff at Stonehill Care Center for taking such good care of Ronnie these past six years
Online condolences may be left for the family at www.hskfh.com