Dixie A. Mennen

Dixie A. Mennen, 96, of Mason City passed away Friday, February 10, 2023, at MercyOne North Iowa Hospice from the effects of a fall and a lengthy illness of Alzheimer’s disease.

Dixie donated her body to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.  Memorial services and interment at Memorial Park Cemetery will be held at a later date.

Memorials may be directed to the Dixie Mennen Memorial Fund in care of Major Erickson Funeral Home, 111 N. Pennsylvania Ave., Mason City, IA  50401.

Dixie Ann Geiler Mennen, was born April 26, 1926, in Mason City the daughter of Karl and Florence (Hartmann) Geiler. Dixie grew up in the  “North End” of Mason City, attending McKinley Elementary School and Monroe Junior High School. She graduated from Mason City High School in 1944 and attended Gregg Business College in Chicago and earned her Associates Degree from NIACC in the 1970s. Upon graduation from Gregg College, Dixie returned to Mason City and worked at the First National Bank (later Norwest and now Wells Fargo) until her retirement in 1988. On June 20, 1948, she married Richard Henry Mennen at the Grace Evangelical Brethren Church (now Grace United Methodist Church) in Mason City. They had two sons, Mark and Paul. In 1956, they moved to Duluth, MN and in 1962 to Phoenix, AZ. They moved back to Mason City in 1963.

Dixie was a lifetime member of Grace United Methodist Church, a 75 plus year member of Eastern Star, and a member of Queen Rebekah Lodge of IOOF. For the last several years, Dixie attended the Hanford Community Church, until she was no longer able. While working she was an active member of Credit Women International, the Business and Professional Women, and the Bank Women of Iowa. For a number of years, Dixie served as the Class of 1944 reporter, sending out newsletters to all of her classmates two times a year, organizing their twice-a-year dinner and breakfast meetings, and helping to organize their other reunions.

Dixie is survived by her son, Paul Mennen (Jeff Kessler) of Chicago, IL; daughter-in-law, Beckie Hood Mennen of Birmingham, AL; three grandchildren, Emily N. Chambers and husband, Byron, of Lewisville, TX, Eric C. Mennen and wife, Amanda McKelvey Mennen of Tuscaloosa, AL, and Keri M. Bearden and husband, Jim, of Leeds, AL; seven great grandchildren, Lauren Chambers and Tyler Chambers of Lewisville, TX, Addison Mennen and Avery Mennen of Tuscaloosa, AL, Kaylea Bearden, Korine Bearden and Josslyn Bearden of Leeds, AL; two nephews, Kal Geiler and wife, Kristi, of Mesa, AZ and Kirk Geiler of Phoenix, AZ; sisters-in-law, Imogene Moyle of Springfield, MO and Delores Weston Herington of Cedar Falls; and many Mennen nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard (2008); son, Mark Mennen (2003); Mark’s first wife, Vickie Smidt Mennen (1979); her parents, Karl (1974) and Florence Geiler (1995); her brother, Carlton Vae Geiler (2011); sister-in-law, Mitzi Green Geiler (2013); her father and mother-in-law, Ecko (1976) and Florence Mennen (1994); brothers-in-law, Ecko Mennen, Gordon Mennen, Cecil Mennen; sisters-in-law, Florence Janssen, Elva Dreier, Gertrude Neymeyer, Eunice Kuhn, Rosalind Andreassen; and several Mennen nieces and nephews.

There are so many people to thank for keeping Dixie engaged in life for the past few years, by calling her, visiting her, taking her to lunch, etc.  Among them, Larold Robinette, Cookie Schiff, Marlene and Dub Graversen, Jean Fiala, Irma Foell and Georgia Holm. If I forgot someone, I sincerely apologize. I have to give a special thanks to Monica Mennen Barnes, Maryann Rossum, and Linda Brood for their valuable assistance in keeping Dixie in her own home for the past several years.  Without their help, she would not have been able to stay in her home.