Abigail Osterholm
Abigail "Abbie" Osterholm, 86, of Waukon passed away Saturday, November 18, 2017 at Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waukon. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, November 22 at 11:30 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon, with Fr. Mark Osterhaus and Rev. Msgr. Ed Lechtenberg officiating. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Waukon.
Friends may call from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday, November 21 at Martin Funeral Home in Waukon, where there will be a 3:30 p.m. rosary and a 5:30 p.m. VFW Auxiliary Service. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Good Samaritan Center or Veterans Memorial Hospital, both in Waukon.
Abigail R. Osterholm was born August 11, 1931 in Waukon, the daughter of Tom and Kathryn (Buckley) Ryan. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Waukon and graduated from St. Patrick High School. A busy working mother, Abbie worked a variety of jobs. She was a telephone operator for Northwestern Bell, a nurse’s aide for both nursing homes in Waukon, ran a daycare in her home, and in 1971, she started working at the Allamakee County Sheriff’s Department as a radio dispatcher, retiring in 1995.
Abbie also volunteered for the St. Patrick School lunch program and was an adopted grandparent at West Elementary. She belonged to the VFW Women’s Auxiliary and St. Patrick Catholic Church. Abbie also liked to travel and once took a special trip to Ireland.
Abbie is survived by her six children: Mike (Libby) Osterholm of Minneapolis, MN, Lori Furlano of La Crosse, WI, Ron (Joyce) Osterholm of Mason City, Paul (Janet) Osterholm of Malone, WI, Trish (Todd Meyer) Darling of Waukon and Amy (Jeff) Sommer of Waukon; 13 grandchildren: Erin (Chad) Pratt, Ryan (Monica) Osterholm, Sarah (Dan) Fulop-Furlano, Rebecca Furlano, Shannon (Marc) McKinney, Joe (Kara Niemeyer) Osterholm, Jessica Osterholm, Paul (Katie) Osterholm Jr., Maggie Osterholm, Nicole (Steve) Garrett, Alicia Darling, Ashley (Brian) Schulte and Justin (Breanna) Sommer; 14 great-grandchildren: Connor, Thomas and Henry Pratt, Ethan Osterholm, Marek, Mila and Nika Fulop-Furlano, Aric McKinney, Wyatt and Cheyenne Osterholm, Ayden and Kinnick Garrett, and Kole and Owen Schulte; a brother, Paul (Anna Mae) Ryan of Oelwein; and a cousin who is just like a sister, Liz Hart of Waukon.
She was preceded in death by her parents; two sons-in-law, Frank Furlano and Kerry Darling; two brothers, Matt (Ruby) Ryan and Roger (Elva) Ryan; and her sister, Romona Ryan.
Honorary casketbearers are Rev Lonning, Connie Schneden, Helen Beardmore, Jeannie Carroll and Deb Munson. Casketbearers are Abbie's grandsons.
Online condolences may be left at www.martinfunerals.com.
