Obituaries : Geraldine F. “Jerry” Rinehart Healy

Geraldine F. "Jerry" Rinehart Healy, 100, of Vinton, Iowa, died Monday, October 2, 2023, at Belle Plaine Specialty Care in Belle Plaine, Iowa. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 7, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. at Murdoch Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Center Point, Iowa, with a visitation one hour prior. Interment will follow at Center Point Cemetery.

She was born June 22, 1923, in Red Oak, Iowa, to Lloyd and Inez Hendryx. She graduated from Center Point High School. Jerry joined the Navy (WAVES) when she was 20 years old. Afterward, she met her future husband Clifford E. Rinehart at the University of Nebraska; they both transferred to Coe College in Cedar Rapids and earned their BA degrees. The couple had three children; they were later divorced. Jerry spent more than two decades working for the United States Post Office in Des Moines, Iowa.

On December 18, 1982, Jerry was united in marriage to Joseph L. Healy at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa; the couple met while they were both serving in the Navy. They moved to Vinton in 1983. She became a member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Vinton. Jerry and Joe both were very active in their community. They were dedicated advocates for older adults in Benton County and throughout Iowa and participated in the Older Iowans Legislature. Jerry really enjoyed people, volunteering in her community, and did many hours of volunteering.

Jerry is survived by her son, Michael (Phyllis) Rinehart; eleven grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and many great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; daughters, Sally Jo (Tom) Stark, Ellen Lea Rinehart; three brothers, Don (Hilda), Lloyd (Emily) and Gerald (Jeannette) Hendryx; and one sister, Margaret (Tom) Kaut.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be in care of Phyllis Rinehart.

Please share a memory of Jerry at www.murdochfuneralhome.com under obituaries.