Luella Hart

Luella Hart, surrounded by loving family members, entered heaven on October 26. She was born in 1932 in Waukon, Iowa, where she had two brothers and one sister to keep her company as she grew. Luella was a brilliant girl, but family conditions directed her to drop out of school in the eighth grade and go to work in the button factory in Waukon. The lack of access to formal education didn’t slow her ability to understand the world and to always be the smartest person in the room. Her never-ending reading list went from War and Peace to the latest bestsellers.

Music was always integral in her life; from singing in church, to playing the accordion, piano and finally her last instrument, the guitar. Luella’s love of music and reading was embedded in her children, and it was the greatest gift of all.

While in Waukon, she and her first husband produced a daughter, Linda. With her second husband three daughters, Debra, Jane, Brenda and one son, Richard, who served honorably in the Vietnam War were born.

In the late fifties, Lloyd Hilleshiem wandered into Waukon from the small town of Waterville, Iowa, and with his words, guitar, and songs stole her heart. Lloyd moved Luella and his new stepchildren to the big town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where everything is possible. They purchased a tiny white house on Eighth Avenue, a stone’s throw from the sounds and smells of Penick & Ford. The tiny house soon became smaller when son Steven and daughter Laura were born. The family was now complete.

Lloyd was an artist, and his side gig was playing guitar and writing Country and Western songs, and all women know that when you marry a country and Western singer who plays gigs four nights a week, the romance would inevitably end. However, the years they had together were special for Luella and the kids, and she loved Lloyd until the day he died in 1976.

She soon married Irvin Hart, who adored her and did everything he could do to be a great stepdad and provider for Luella, who continued to be the hardest working, most loving woman on planet earth. She used her giant collection of cookbooks and had written recipes to create holiday and family gathering dinners that were so grand that everyone seemed to be constantly gaining weight.

Luella was a waitress at the Old Towne Inn in Czech Village for over ten years enjoying her time interacting with all the good tippers and the bad tippers.

Irvin taught Luella how to drive, and she finally got a driver’s license at forty-one. Irvin bought her a Volkswagen Beetle, and the family no longer had to walk to Mee Too to buy groceries. No one looked better driving around Cedar Rapids in a Volkswagen Beetle with the AM radio turned up loud and the windows rolled down.

Luella leaves many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great great-grandchildren who adored her and cherished their time with her and will never forget her.

Her daughter Jane and husband Irvin preceded her in death. Per Luella’s wishes, there will be no services.