Ila Elizabeth Budde

Ila Elizabeth Budde, 101, of Dubuque, IA passed away peacefully on Sunday, May 17, 2020 at Bethany Home.

A private family service will be held on Friday, May 22, 2020 at Leonard Funeral Home and Crematory, 2595 Rockdale Rd, with Pastor John Sorenson officiating. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the funeral home will provide a live stream video of the funeral service on Leonard Funeral Home and Crematory’s Facebook page at 11:00 a.m. Friday. Burial will be in Dubuque Memorial Gardens.

Ila was born on October 27, 1918 in Andrew, IA the daughter of Leo and Winifred (Fuller) Sommers. She attended a country school and was a graduate of Andrew High School.

She married Orville Budde in May of 1936 and together they had 16 children. Ila lived on a farm near Bellevue and moved to Dubuque in 1967.

She worked at Bellevue Hotel, Hattie’s Café, Woodpecker Shop and was Secretary Treasurer of Bellevue Township Schools. She was also on the board of Project Concern and Volunteered at the Grand Theatre for over 40 years as well as RSVP since 1994. Ila received a volunteer award from Gov. Branstad.

She was a member of 62 Plus Dupaco Senior Club and belonged to the 1918 Club. Ila completed a course from NICC at age 57 in Geriatric Nurse Aide. She loved the theatre, dancing, euchre, sewing, embroidering and crossword and jigsaw puzzles. Ila won many awards for her beautiful poetry and short stories.

She is survived by her children, Dale Budde of East Dubuque, IL, Marilyn (Dale) Junk of Bellevue, IA, Doris (Dave) Felderman of Dubuque, Jim (Barb) Budde of Bellevue, IA, Tom and Troy Budde of Dubuque, Kevin (Jean) Budde of the Quad Cities, Yvette McLimans of Dubuque, Marcia Budde of Colorado, Brent and Blayne (Robbin) Budde of Florida and Todd Budde of California; 38 grandchildren, 85 great grandchildren, and 20 great-great grandchildren; 26 step-grandchildren, 43 great step-grandchildren and 22 great-great step-grandchildren.

Ila was preceded in death by her three sons, Glenn, John and Raymond “Buster” Budde; a daughter, Marla; granddaughters, Chandra and Angela; twin grandchildren, Madeline and Spencer; grandsons, Steve and Brandon; great-great granddaughter Nyx Jones; sons-in-law, Leroy Felderman and Fred McLimans; step-grandson, Joe Hudspeth Jr.; ex-husband, Orville; brother and sister-in-law, Oscar and Sylvia (Kremer) Sommers and sisters, Vera Sommers and Marjorie (Elmer) Till.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent directly to the family or to the Leonard Funeral Home in care of the Ila Budde family. Online condolences may be left www.leonardfuneralhome.com

The family would like to extend a special thank you to the Staff at Bethany Home and to Hospice of Dubuque for the wonderful care they gave to Ila.

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