Helen Louise Hoskins, 90, passed away Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, at Skiff Medical Center in Newton.
Helen, the daugh-ter of Paul and Fonda (Bass) Bonnett, was born Jan. 10, 1927, on the home farm near Chariton. She graduated from Chariton High School in 1944. In her younger years, she was a good softball player and was known as “Casey at bat.” The nickname stuck with her, her sisters calling her Casey and nieces and nephews only knowing her as Aunt Casey.
Helen was the oldest, with four sisters, and became her farmer father’s “right-hand man” working beside him. Helen taught country school for several years. July 29, 1945, after Robert “Bob” Hoskins was discharged from the Army, she and Bob were married in Chariton. Helen was a loving wife, mother, and grandmother, and a member of the First Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday school and young people for many years. While raising her family, Helen worked as secretary for the church, and at Jasper County Extension Office, and moved to Des Moines and then Colorado Springs in 1978. She enjoyed, as a younger girl, her horse named Tony, reading, her dogs, and the mountains of Colorado Springs. Recently, she had moved back to Iowa, having been cared for by her daughters Lisa and husband Tony in Colorado and Linda and husband Jerry and her son Craig and wife Kim, all of Iowa. She was a good cook, seamstress, and gardener.
She is survived by her children: Linda Dianne (Jerry) Jansen, Craig Robert (Kim) Hoskins, and Lisa Kay (Tony) Mall; her nine grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; her sisters: Patty Hull, Phyllis (Jerry) Roberts, and Marte Lewis; and her nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband Bob Hoskins in 1998; sons: Ivan Eugene in 1946, Christopher Allen in 2002, and Carl Bruce in 1999; a sister Frances; and a brother-in-law Jerry Hull.
Graveside rites will be held in the Chariton Cemetery at a later date. Pence~Reese Funeral Home in Newton has been entrusted with the arrangements. Helen is now at peace with her Lord. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be left in Helen’s name or a charity of your choosing.
