Estelle Blazek

Funeral Services: Will be held on Monday, May 9, 2016, at 2:30 p.m. at the Orient United Methodist Church with burial in the Greenfield Cemetery. Pastor Cathy Nutting will officiate the service. A luncheon will be held at the church following the committal services at the cemetery.  

Open Visitaiton: Friends may call at the Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield on Sunday, May 8th, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Family Visitation: The family will greet friends on Sunday from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at the Steen Funeral Home in Greenfield. 

Memorials: Memorials may be made to the Orient United Methodist Church, Greater Regional Hospice Home or to the Greater Regional Cancer Center.

Estelle Fay Blazek was born May 7, 1934, the daughter of Ralph and Lucy (Speed) Westphal in rural Adair County, Iowa. She passed away on Thursday, May 5, 2016, at the HCI Greater Regional Hospice House in Creston, Iowa, at the age of 81.

Estelle was raised in Adair County. She attended country school and graduated from Richland High School in 1952, before going to Commercial Extension School in Omaha for two years. On August 8, 1954, she was united in marriage to Kenneth Blazek in Fontanelle, Iowa. To this union six children were born: Wesley, Phyllis, Arlan, Joy, Mary and Steven.

Estelle worked for State Savings Bank in Fontanelle, with Kenneth at home hauling grain and livestock, driving the truck when not busy with raising their 6 kids, gardening, sewing, raising and dressing chickens. She drove school bus for the Orient Macksburg School District for 15 years before finally working at Sears Credit as a fraud investigator in Des Moines for 14 years before retiring. Retirement did not find her idle. She was busy with volunteer work for the church and schools, always making pies for local events, quilting (each child has a quilt), attending sports and school events for her grandchildren and great grandchildren, while still finding time to fix dinner for her family every Sunday. She was very proud of all of her family, and loved to see them gathered around the tables. She was a huge Husker fan, Husker red and proud. Estelle enjoyed watching the birds outside her windows at the many feeders they maintained, and was very proud of her flowers every summer.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Lucy Westphal, father and mother in law Glen and Velma Blazek, twin sister Esther Hazen, and sister Carol Nielsen, and great grandson Wyatt.

She is survived by her husband Kenneth, children Wesley, Phyllis, Arlan (Deb), Joy (Jack), Mary (Mike), and Steven (Lea). Her grandchildren are Stacey, Byron (Jerri), Mike, Matt (Steph), Carol (Dana), Steven (Megan), Alex (Haley), Abby, Anna, Matt (Abbey), Michelle (Eddie). Her great grandchildren are Timothy, Dawson, Taylor, Arielle, Kasey, Kelsey, Kaelyn, Jocelyn, McKenna, Emily, Burton, Elliott, Henry, Hazin, Hank, Nash, and Roen. Her brother and sister-in-law Bruce and Zola Westphal, brothers-in-law Vern Blazek and Roger Webb, sisters-in-law Viola Blazek and Jean Davis. She also leaves behind many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.