Dorothea Ellen Rugland, 83

Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Monday, June 28, 2021, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hampton. Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. until service time at the church on Monday.

Dorothea Ellen Rugland, 83, of Hampton, passed away on Friday, June 25, 2021, at the Franklin Country View Nursing Facility in Hampton, after a courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease. She was born July 28, 1937, in Bettendorf, Iowa to Averill Jennings and Matilda Gertrude (Lobert) Thompson.

Dorothea was united in marriage to Carroll Vern Rugland on June 5, 1960, in Davenport, Iowa, after initially meeting on a blind date. They were married for 51 years before Carroll’s death in 2011.

Dorothea graduated from Bettendorf High School in Bettendorf. She had a lifelong dream of attending college and becoming a teacher, which she achieved in 1981, when she graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls with a Bachelor’s degree in education. Throughout her life, Dorothea worked tirelessly as a wife, mother, and part-time teacher.

Dorothea was a very active person, with a wide variety of interests. She attended countless basketball games, clinics, and tournaments while she and Carroll lived in Bennett, Montezuma, and Hampton. She was an active member of the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Hampton and she was also a top women’s golfer at the Hampton Country club. She participated in several literary clubs and bridge clubs over the years, which carried over to her time at Franklin Country View. She enjoyed baking, and was known for her delicious cinnamon pecan rolls, as well as for the mountains of Christmas cookies and Norwegian delicacies that she baked every year. Dorothea also was a talented seamstress, enjoyed counted cross stitch, knitting, calligraphy, and other crafts.

Dorothea is survived by her daughter Karyn (Bret) Haydock of Canton, Georgia, son Kris (Sandra Carolan) Rugland of Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, granddaughter Ruby Rugland of Madison, Wisconsin, sister Carol Jean Cade of Bettendorf. 

Dorothea is preceded in death by her parents, husband, granddaughter Cora Rugland, brothers and sister Robert, Ted, Kenneth, Audry, Patricia, and Tom.