Anna Mae Bolar

Anna M. “Chickie” Bolar, 89, of Marshalltown, Iowa, passed away on Sunday, February 18, 2018 at the Iowa Veterans Home. Funeral services for Chickie will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 24, 2018 at Mitchell Family Funeral Home with Chaplin Angela Doty officiating.  Public visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. until services begin at 11:00 a.m..  Memorial contributions may be directed in Chickie’s name to her family, which will be later designated elsewhere.  For further information or to send a condolence please visit www.mitchellfh.com or call (641) 844-1234. Anna Mae Bolar was born May 4, 1928 to Henry and Dena Johns in Ackley, Iowa and passed away peacefully with her family present February 18, 2018 at the Iowa Veterans Home.  Anna spoke German at home and walked from the family farm to a country school between Ackley and Steamboat Rock through middle school.  She attended high school at Steamboat Rock and knew Merle Bolar who also attended Steamboat Rock High School and was three years older.  Merle waited until after they both graduated, and he returned home from the war to start courting shy Anna by coaxing her to skate with him at the skating rink in Iowa Falls.  She and Merle were married November 29, 1948 and raised their family of five children in Eldora.  Anna played guard on the Steamboat Rock State Championship basketball team and remembered the caravan of cars driving the team to Des Moines getting stuck in the snow and all pitching in to shovel them out. The highlight of the tournament was more about visiting the Younkers Tea Room than winning the tournament!  In addition to taking care of her family and watching all her kids growing up playing sports, she worked in the local grocery store and was employed as a nurse aid in the Eldora Hospital and later at Valley View Nursing Home.  She also worked for Farmer Brothers in Eldora and the Crandall farm.  She loved spending time with family and even sewing dresses for her daughters Dee & Karen.  Anna & Merle enjoyed traveling with their friends Carl & Bert King and playing cribbage.  She acquired the nickname “Chickie” from her daughter, Dee, and that became her official title by everyone in the community.  Anna was known for her fabulous pies and homemade cookies which she always had for her grandkids when they came to visit.  After Merle passed away she bought and sold two different houses in Eldora before moving to an apartment in Story City. Later she entered a Nursing Home in Ames and spent the last 6 years at the Veterans Home in Marshalltown. Anna was preceded in death by her husband, Merle, her parents and her sisters Catherine and Margaret.  She is survived by her children; Steve (Bettie) Bolar, Marshalltown, IA, David (Kristen) Bolar, State Center, IA, Dee (Gordon) Hansen, Salem, Ill, Karen (Mike) Green, Sandy, Utah, Ron (Cindy) Bolar, Ankeny, IA: 14 grandchildren, 11 great grandchildren and 2 great great grandchildren.