TAMA -Shirley Maria Uchytil, 85, of Tama, passed away Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at the Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. A Funeral Liturgy will be held Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 1:00 PM at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Tama with Deacon Joe Behounek officiating. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo. Visitation will be held Saturday, March 12, 2011 from 12:00 PM until service time at the church.
Shirley was born January 2, 1926, in rural Montour, Iowa, the daughter of Walter Scott and Violet (Paxton) Bryan. The family lived on a farm near Montour. She attended school there until her family moved to a farm NE of Toledo, where she graduated from high school.
She married Fred Uchytil on February 12, 1945. Fred and Shirley had a son, LaVerne and a daughter, Gloria. They lived on a farm near her parents until 1952 when they moved to a farm SE of Tama. In 1957, they purchased a small farm about one mile to the south, where she was living until recently. They were engaged in general farming and in milking dairy cows. Shirley enjoyed gardening and a wide variety of farm animals. She was a 4H leader for twenty years. She also worked as a local census taker and enjoyed writing up her family history.
Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband, Fred; her daughter, Gloria Crooks; one sister, Gladys Konicek; and one brother, Carl Bryan.
Survivors include one son, LaVerne (Elizabeth) Uchytil of Urbandale; six granddaughters, Angela Crooks, Alice Lowery, Sarah Uchytil, Theresa Etler, Rose Christenson and Christi Uchytil; five great-grandchildren, Patrick, Ruth and Irene Lowry, Madeline Etler and Catie Christenson; and two sisters, Marilyn Hach and Marlene Hecht both of Dysart.
A memorial fund has been established.