Dorene M. McCarthy

Dorene M. McCarthy, 93, of Peosta, IA passed away Monday, April 26, at 2:59 a.m. at home surrounded by her family.

Funeral Services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, May 1st at Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory, 2595 Rockdale Road with Rev. Dianne Grace officiating. Burial will be in the Resurrection Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3:00 pm. to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 30th at Leonard Funeral Home & Crematory. Please remember to wear your mask and if you are unable to attend a live stream of the funeral service will be on the funeral home Facebook page.

She was born on July 29, 1927 in Epworth Iowa, daughter of Nettie (Duhr) and Robert Allen. She grew up in Epworth before moving to Dubuque.

She married Robert M. McCarthy on April 2, 1946 at St. Raphael’s Cathedral. He preceded her in death on September 3, 2007. This year would have been their 75th wedding anniversary.

Dorene was employed several places but most of her working career was at St. Regis Paper Company/Georgia Pacific. She retired from there in 1990. In her retirement years, she never slowed down. She was either babysitting her great grandkids or finding jobs where she could socialize. She especially liked taking tickets and selling programs (which she was the best at) at the Dubuque, Farley and West Liberty Speedways and bringing joy by delivering flowers for Flowerma.  

She enjoyed the company of her many friends. She had standing monthly get togethers with the Full Moon Floozies, her St Regis co-workers and her Game Groups.  It was with these friends that she was given the name “Queen Dorene”. She was always the life of the party, she had a beautiful smile and a contagious laugh. Her stories were the best and her jokes were the worst but somehow “Queen Dorene” always made us laugh.

 If she was not playing poker or in front of a slot machine, she could be found at home with the phone attached to her ear, providing stories and laughter to many. She enjoyed quilting, cards, warm weather, family gatherings, reading her rag magazines, coffee, chocolate, rum and cokes and cooking. She made the best chicken noodle soup and macaroni salad in the 563.

She loved to spend time with her family. Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren were everything to her. She was a loving woman who enjoyed teaching lessons.  One of her favorite lessons was teaching her grandchildren to clean her house while convincing them it was spending quality time together.  Having her family around, especially her great-grandchildren, made her very happy and she absolutely loved living at the Cabin in the Woods with Les and Dianne.

The memories and the legacy that she has left us with, we will hold onto tightly and cherish forever. She was a one of a kind lady, she was very loved and will be fondly remembered by all that knew her. She will be greatly missed every day, but we know she will always be watching us from above and with us in spirit.

Those left to honor her memory are her children; Dianne (Les) Wagner of Dubuque, Patrick McCarthy of Long Grove; five grandchildren; Dawn Blasen of Solon, IA, Michelle (Cole) Schmelzer and Elizabeth (Michael) Goodwin, both of Dubuque, Kris (Natalie) Nirk of Bixby Oklahoma and Matthew (Patty) McClimon of Columbus Ohio; 11 great-grandchildren; Sterling and Storm Blasen-Hoerner, Ryley and Benjamin Schmelzer, PeparLex Goodwin, Savanna, Ava and Alivia Nirk and Drew, Zach and Will McClimon; two sisters-in-law; Mary Smith of Graf and Joan (Eldon) Schmidt and several niece, nephews and other relatives.

She was preceded in death by her husband Robert, her daughter Roberta Holden, her sons-in-law, Thomas McClimon and Les Holden, her parents, her mother and father in-law, all her brother and sisters and their spouses, several brother and sister in-laws and their spouses as well as many other family and friends.

The family would like to sincerely thank Hospice of Dubuque, specifically Kourtney, Hailey, Jeanie, Dianne and her wonderful aid never fear, Julie is here. The Mercy Hospital 2nd floor nurses and staff, where she spent a lot of time over the last two years and Dr. Sara Letcher and Dr. Tara Brock.

In addition, her family and friends would like to extend extreme gratitude and gratefulness to Les and Dianne for taking such wonderful care of her. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Hospice of Dubuque.

To send flowers to the family, please visit our floral store.