Audra Lehmann 1927-2013

Here is the official obituary for Audra Lehmann. It will be published a few places, but now it is here as well. You can go to the Iowa Cremation website as well to share a memory, leave other tributes, audio or a photo. You can also leave a comment here or in my first post from Friday. I will make sure Bob sees them all. Thank you all for the wonderful memories to date. I am learning so much from your stories and I’m sure others are as well.

Audra Rose Peters Jakober Lehmann, 85, of Dubuque, died on January 18, 2013, of complications following cancer-related surgery at the University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City.

Services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 26, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1755 Delhi Street, Dubuque. Friends may call at the church on Friday, January 25, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and preceding the service on Saturday from 9:00 to 10:45 a.m. Interment will be at Oak Hill Cemetery in Tama, Iowa, at 4:00 p.m. on January 26.

Audra was born to John and Esther Peters in George, Iowa, on June 15, 1927. The family moved to Tama, Iowa, and Audra graduated from Tama High School in 1945. She attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where she met her first husband, Roland (Jake) Jakober. They married in 1947, and after he was ordained, the couple served churches and schools in North Dakota and Minnesota. Three children were born: Peter (1950-2012), Jeffrey (b. 1953), and Pamela (1955-1959). In 1959, Audra was severely injured in a car accident which killed her husband and daughter. After her recovery, she completed the teacher education program at Wartburg College and moved with her sons to Waverly. She served as an elementary teacher in the Waverly-Shell Rock schools for thirteen years in first and fifth grades.

Audra married Pastor Robert (Bob) Lehmann in 1975, adding his six adult children to her family. The couple met at a Wartburg College Homecoming event, and their devotion to their alma mater was a treasured part of their 37 years of marriage. They moved to Des Moines where Bob served as a hospital chaplain, and then to subsequent parish placements at St. Paul Lutheran Church (Ottumwa) and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (Dubuque).
In addition to teaching, Audra also worked as a hospital clerk, church organist, and coordinator for Hospice of Wapello Country, Ottumwa. She was a tireless volunteer in community and church activities, including conference and district boards for Iowa WELCA, Stephen Ministry, Hospice of Dubuque, Finley Hospital, and Lutheran World Relief quilting. She loved to sing, and was an alumnus of the Wartburg College Choir, in addition to participating in other musical and theatrical activities. She was in Red Hat Club, book clubs, Dorcas Circle, and she and Bob loved to travel and enjoyed visiting family and friends all over this country and in Europe.

Surviving are her husband Bob, of Dubuque; son, Jeffrey (Terry) Jakober of Tulsa, OK; and grandsons Andrew Jakober of Tulsa, and Thomas Jakober of Orange, TX. She is also survived by step-children Kent (Joellen) Yeager, Jesup, IA; Lynda Holtz, Jefferson, IA; Barbara Nash, Jefferson, IA; Mark (Karen) Lehmann, Waverly, IA; Brian (Mary Maher) Lehmann, Houston, MN; and Grant (Laurie) Lehmann, Bangor, MI; 16 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; sister Ann Peters, Janesville, WI; brother David (Judy) Peters, Ocala, FL; and 7 nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death were her parents, first husband, daughter Pamela, son Peter, and sister Mae Pearson.

Audra will be especially remembered for her determination, loyalty, hearty laugh, love of the color purple, and her prodigious correspondence, as she faithfully wrote at least one letter to family and friends every day. Memorials may be directed to the family or to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Dubuque.