Obituary of Debra L. Sickels

Debra L. Sickels, 63, of Iowa City, died Thursday, August 4, 2016. Funeral services will be held at 10 am Tuesday, August 9, 2016, at Parkview Evangelical Free Church in Iowa City, with burial to follow at the Silver Creek Cemetery near Ryan, Iowa. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 pm Monday at the church. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in her memory. Debra Lea Schmidt was born November 17, 1952, in Anamosa, Iowa the daughter of Richard and Verna (Westphal) Schmidt. She attended schools in Anamosa, graduating from Anamosa High School with the Class of 1971. The following year on June 9, 1972 she was united in marriage to Kennith E. Sickels Jr. at the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Anamosa. The couple has lived in a number of cities including Bettendorf, Iowa, two years in California, and six years in Cedar Falls before moving to Iowa City in 1996. She loved being mother and a very supportive wife for many years, raising their three children and caring for her family. In addition to this she enjoyed working for a number of companies through the years, American Color in Cedar Falls, Pearson Education and HyVee (Waterfront Store) both in Iowa City. Deb focused her energies on caring for people she loved. First, her husband (who needed a lot of help!!) and then making the smooth transition to her three children, spending hundreds of hours working with them making sure they got a strong foundation for their education. But her favorite role was to be devoted to her grandchildren whom she loved (and spoiled) just like a “Nana” should. For the last 40 years she has had a love affair with the Iowa Hawkeyes. She was a lifetime cheerleader, for her school, her kids, and finally her grandkids. Her family includes her husband, Ken; their daughters, Nicole Ranstrom (Kristian) of Ft. Collins, CO; and Lindsay Kravtsova (Andriy) of Kiev, Ukraine; daughter-in-law, Jamie Sickels of Iowa City; grandchildren, Merek, Ani, Norah, Soren, Keira, Leah, Nikita, Noah and Eli; Deb’s mother, Verna Parham; and Deb’s brother, Mike Schmidt (Kathy). She was preceded in death by her son, Eric; nephew, Jay; father, Richard; and her in-laws, Kennith and Vera Sickels.