Obituary of Theola Pirkl Hart

Theola Pirkl Hart- May 11, 1917 to September 21, 2004 David Kennedy Hart- January 1, 1919 – June 17, 2003 Funeral services will be at held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, October 9, 2004 at the First United Methodist Church, North Liberty Iowa. Burial at Ridgewood Cemetery in North Liberty. Memorial donations are suggested to Nature Conservancy, 4245 N Fairfax Drive, Suite 100, Arlington, VA 22203-1606 Theola was born in North Liberty, Iowa to Daniel and Maude Pirkl; the youngest of eight children. They were farmers who grew most of their own food, sold milk, eggs and crops. She remembers it as a wonderful life. Although they did not have a lot of "stuff", there was much love, laughter and fun to make the hard work worthwhile. Daniel died when Theola was two. The family was kept together on the farm by the determination and drive of Maude and the care, skill and perseverance of her children. Theola was well cared for by her brothers and sisters. From childhood till her lifes end, she always counted herself among the luckiest in the world to have such remarkable siblings. Theola loved school, attending the one room schoolhouse up the road from the Pirkl farm, graduating from University High School and then attended the University of Iowa until she stopped to support her husband by working for Fred Kent, the University photographer. When she was in 10th grade, Tollie must have looked cute in gym shorts. The story goes that David spotted her in gym class and announced, "that's going to be my girlfriend". The courtship flourished. David rode his motorcycle to the Pirkl farm; attended Theola's basketball games with his friends; and tried to convince Theola family's that he was the fellow who would take good care of their youngest. On May 27th 1939, Theola Leona Pirkl became Mrs. David Kennedy Hart. They enjoyed a marriage that lasted 64 years. To her life's end, she remained convinced that she had married the most wonderful man; smart, nice, the best mister-fix-it and dancing partner in the world. Theola spent her life as a vivacious, happy woman. She was a terrific cook, gardener, and a wonderful mother, grandmother and wife. She loved games and organized neighborhood football and basketball games. Her good sportsmanship, wonderful attitude and encompassing spirituality were a delight and inspiration to everyone who met her. She played golf, badminton and in later years tennis. She loved thrift shops and would wind up with 10 tennis dresses, each of which cost no more than $2.00 a piece. She was an ardent sports fan who enjoyed watching games on TV. In the middle of a game, family often noted her routing for the OTHER team....she had kindly changed sides to route for an underdog! Theola was active in PTA, Brownies and Girl Scouts. She made sure all her friends and her children's friends had a place to go for holidays or included them in our family activities. She made each holiday special with homemade food, decorations, and love. Theola always thought of herself as an Iowa farm girl and came home to Iowa almost every summer. For many years there were large Pirkl family reunions in Iowa City Park. She moved with David and his jobs around the US; making life long friends everywhere they went: Wisconsin, California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. In the 70's David started his own company in the basement of their home. Theola was the bookkeeper, secretary, and at trade shows the favorite sales rep getting customers and prospects to visit their display booth. When they retired the Harts moved to Virginia to be near Nancy, Vinnie and their children. It is there that David died in June 2003 and where Theola left us to join him in 2004. Theola loved life, children, animals, flowers and all growing things. Most especially she loved her family. We will forever miss the sparkle that that our TOLLIE brought to the world. The adventures of David Kennedy Hart, born to Clyde W. Hart and Elizabeth (Bessie) Fruit Hart on January 1, 1919, began early in his life. When he was 3 years old in Iowa City, David was delivered home wet and bedraggled to his mother by an angry and wet postman. David had ventured a little too far from home to go exploring and fallen into the Iowa River. The rescuer told his mother that she had better keep an eye on her son. David was 14 when he looked up and saw the weekly mail plane coming in for a landing at the Iowa City Airport. He hopped on his bike, pedaled to the airport and said, “I want to learn to fly”. The pilot answered, “bring me a note from your parents, handle my bookkeeping, and I’ll teach you”. David became the youngest pilot ever to solo in Iowa City, earning his license at 15. Lane Gutherie, the pilot and life long friend, became the American Airlines Pilot whose strike against the airlines for dumping excess fuel over airports changed the rules for all airlines and who was the father of the first woman to drive in the Indianapolis 500. David kept many of his friends throughout his life. In World War II, while many of his colleagues went off to fight the war overseas, David, the mechanical engineer, stayed behind to build the guidance system for torpedoes for Fairbanks Morris and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For his work, David was awarded the highest award given a civilian by the United States Navy. David, like so many of his generation, was raised with the strong moral values of honesty, hard work, and caring for others. After the war was over, David hired the first Japanese secretary in his in Pasadena, California office, a woman whose parents had been placed in internment camps in California during the war. When the government brought over German scientists to work on its missile program and then forgot its promise to bring over their continued... 1 2 Next