Mabel Stahl

A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, August 12, 2020, at the Layton Township Cemetery in Walnut, Iowa.

Mabel Elizabeth Stahl, 102, formerly of Walnut, passed away Nov. 6, 2019 at Heritage House in Atlantic.

Mabel was born March 12, 1917, in Anita to Mabel and Stewart Trimmer at the home of her Grandmother, Ella Booth. Her mother died when Mabel was just 12 days old, and she was reared by both Grandma Booth and Trimmer. She had one brother Donald, who was killed on the White Pole Road at the age of six.

Mabel graduated from Anita High School with the Class of 1935. She then worked in Walnut at the Sylvia Café, where she met her husband, John Stahl. The couple married on Christmas day, 1938. Their first baby boy died at birth in 1942. John enlisted in the U.S. Navy when WW II started. Mabel moved to Norman, OK, where John was stationed for the birth of their first daughter, Reba Lynn. Their second daughter, Mary Elizabeth was later born in 1950. One of Mabel’s happiest memories was sitting around the Stahl family table laughing along with her in-laws, HJ and Mabel Stahl, and sister-in-law, Ethel Christensen.

John worked at the Walnut Post Office, while Mabel was a homemaker and mother. Following John’s stroke in 1964, Mabel went on to work at Peace Haven and later at the Colonial Inn and Best Western Motels in Walnut. John spent 21 years in the Veterans Hospital in Knoxville, dying in 1985.

Mabel was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Walnut. She loved to cook, dance, walk, shop, relax on her porch with flowers, and spend time with family and friends. Mabel was known for her quick wit and generous personality that brightened everyone’s day. She remained active and independent for her entire life, up until her last year.

Mabel sold her house in Walnut in 2010 and moved to Brookridge Apartments, adjacent to Heritage House and near her daughter, Reba, and husband. Here, she enjoyed outings with her neighbor Darlene, exercise class, walks and her Heritage House community.

In addition to her parents, brother, and husband, she was preceded in death by her son John, Jr. and granddaughter, Lysa Lynn. She is survived by her children: Reba (Gary) Nicholson of Atlantic and Mary (James) Bauer of Billings, MT; 5 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews and many friends.

Memorials are preferred to Heritage House Good Samaritan Fund.

A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, August 12, 2020, at the Layton Township Cemetery in Walnut, Iowa.