Ruth Ann Rita Hargrafen

Ruth Ann Rita Hargrafen, 88, of Delhi, Iowa, passed away at her home on Friday, February 28, 2025, with her family present. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Friday, March 7th, 2025, at Bohnenkamp-Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Manchester. Mass of Christian Burial will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, March 8th, 2025, at St. John Catholic Church in Delhi, with an additional visitation from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. prior to the Funeral Mass with a Catholic Daughters of America rosary starting at 10:30 a.m. Burial will take place at St. John Catholic Cemetery in Delhi. 

Ruth was born on June 7, 1936, at home on the farm just south of Delhi, the daughter of August and Anna (Handfelt) Hargrafen. She graduated in 1954 from Delhi High School and attended Mount Mercy College where she obtained her teaching degree. She was a teacher at Winthrop School District for two years and then taught at Indian Creek in Marion until retiring in 1998. Ruth continued to substitute teach until she was 80. She enjoyed traveling, playing a good game of cards and volunteering whenever she could at the Delhi Library, St. Mary School and the Penn Center. She was active in the Catholic Daughters of America, Women’s Club in Delhi and was a lifetime member of St. John Catholic Church in Delhi. Her greatest joy was spending time with her family and friends. She will be dearly missed by all those who knew and loved her. 

Ruth is survived by her sisters, Doris Funke of Edgewood, Iowa, Arlene (Fred) Kaefring of Tipton, Iowa; her brother Vincent’s daughters, Nancy Appleton (late husband, Mark) of Greeley and Jane (Joe) Huber of Delhi and their families, Brian (Elyssa) Appleton, Sarah (Scott) Cherne, Amber (Ryan) Jaeger, Brett (Kenzie) Appleton, Hannah (Travis) Regan, Katherine Huber; and her sisters-in-law, Corinne Hargrafen of Columbus Junction, Iowa, Lela McCormick of Dubuque, Iowa; numerous nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, August and Anna Hargrafen; four brothers, Vincent (Mary), Urban, Cletus (Grace), Father John Hargrafen; four sisters, Alma (Earl) Davin, Bernice (Llewellyn) Koelker, Edna (Charles) McCormick, Sister Mary Hargrafen OSF; brother-in-law, Arthur Funke; nieces and nephews, Timothy McCormick, Mary Jo Weatherwax (God daughter), Kathy Koelker-Lander, Ron Funke, Jim Hargrafen; and special friend Alvin “Bud” Lahr.

Memorials in Ruth’s memory may be directed to the family.