CAROL A. REYNOLDS

MUSCATINE, Iowa – Carol A. Reynolds, 90, passed away on Friday, April 26, 2024, at UIHC/Mercy Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa from complications of COPD.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at the Ralph J. Wittich-Riley-Freers Funeral Home, 1931 Houser St. Muscatine, IA. Wendell Wright will officiate. A luncheon will follow the service at Chapel of Praise, 1963 N. Tipton Road, Muscatine. Private burial will follow at Oakridge Cemetery in West Liberty, IA.

In lieu of flowers, Carol requested donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or Chapel of Praise.

Carol was born on February 8, 1934, in Iowa City, IA, the daughter of Jesse and Martha (Hobstetter) Swart. She married Ronald R. Reynolds on March 29, 1953. He preceded her in death in 2013. They had 3 children, James, Debra and Craig. They lost Craig in a motorcycle accident in 1985.

Carol grew up in West Liberty, Iowa and graduated from West Liberty High School in 1952. She fondly remembered playing clarinet and being a guard on the girls’ high school basketball team, which competed at state. After high school, she started nursing school but opted to get married and have a family instead. When the children were school age, she worked as a make-up specialist @ Merle Norman Cosmetics in Muscatine for one year. Carol then became a Special Education Aide with the Muscatine/Scott County Special Education School System for 26 years. There she became close friends with two of her supervising teachers, Dace Mezinskis and Dave Pusateri, who remained wonderful friends till the end of her life. The last six years of her career were as a reading aide for Colorado and McKinley Schools. She retired in 2001.

Carol loved her make-up, and especially had to do her brows. She didn’t ever want visitors unless she had her “face” on. Ron and Carol liked traveling and boating. They owned cabins on the Cedar River and later at Lake Odessa. She loved to cook and missed doing it later in life. She enjoyed entertaining at the pool of their Mulberry home as well as taking walks in their neighborhood. After moving she loved bird watching outside her living room windows. She was a HUGE Dr. Phil and Judge Judy fan. Carol had a great memory for detail, was generous, hardworking and always ready to party. She was easy to talk to and loved being with her grandchildren and families. Though wheelchair bound since 2013, she was determined to live in her own home, with minimal assistance, until the last month of her life when she moved in with her daughter.

Carol is survived by her son, James (Carla) Reynolds and daughter, Debra Tiecke Fenwick, both of Muscatine;

Grandson, Chad Tiecke (Danielle Lyon) of Andalusia, IL., great-grandson, Koen Tiecke, step-great grandchildren Caleb Peterson, Jillian Lyon, Jakobe Ragland;

Grandson, Tyler Tiecke (Maddison) of Iowa City, IA., great-grandson, Maverick Tiecke and unborn great-granddaughter Tiecke due in July;

Step-grandson, Richard Fenwick Jr. (Deborah) of Boca Raton, FL., step-great granddaughters Mackenzie and Chloe Fenwick.

Preceding her in death were her parents, husband Ronald, son Craig and sons-in-law Trent Tiecke and Richard Fenwick Sr.