Obituary of LuAnne Lefler

LuAnne “Lu” Lefler, 60 of Iowa City formerly of Burlington, died Thursday, July 21, 2016, at her home. Funeral Mass will be held at 9am Saturday, July 30, 2016, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Iowa City, with a time of fellowship and refreshments immediately following in the Parish Hall of the church. Visitation “Tailgating” will be from 4 to 8pm Friday at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in Lu’s memory to support causes important to Lu and Ken. To share a memory, thought, picture or a condolence with Lu’s family please go to the funeral home website @ www.gayandciha.com. LuAnne Bruegger was born October 6, 1955, in Burlington, Iowa the daughter of Kenneth and Joan (Fischer) Bruegger. She attended schools there in Burlington, graduating from Burlington High School with the Class of 1973. She then went on to Southeastern Community College in West Burlington, IA; while there she enjoyed being a cheerleader among other things! Lu was united in marriage to Ken Lefler on November 24, 1984, in Burlington. The couple moved to Iowa City in 1989 where they owned and operated Lefler Schwinn Bicycle for a number of years. Later she worked in the offices of Marchman Psychology for the past 10 years. Lu loved life, lived it to its fullest, whether it was on their tandem bicycle biking all over Iowa on one of her 34 RAGBRAI’s, other bike rides with their many biking buddies, tailgating on Saturdays with their friends ready to cheer on their Iowa Hawkeyes. Or if it was her obsession with the St. Louis Cardinals, words don’t quite do justice explaining this. On game days, there were things you just didn’t do, but other things that you did; during the seventh inning stretch, you got up no matter what, even when her health made it almost impossible to do so; and so many other little quirks that made her Lu. Something near and dear to her was supporting the Ladies Football Academy that benefitted the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital each year. Bottom line, family, her faith, and her friends was Lu! Her family includes her husband, Ken; her father, Kenny Bruegger; siblings, Dave Bruegger (Myra), Cathy Bruegger, Judy Jones (Hans), Jim Bruegger, John Bruegger (Lisa), Beth Wilbert (Ben), and Jennifer Bruegger (Jason Dreckmeier), 6 nieces and 1 nephew, Ellen, Emma, Chloe, Madison, Kyden, Sophie and Kayla. Lu’s mother, Joan preceded her in death.