Obituary of Dolores Ann Kallsen Modro

Dolores Ann Kallsen Modro was born on October 13, 1929 in Keystone, Iowa. She was raised in a strong German, Lutheran culture of hard work, stoic determination and faith. She was the sixth child of Walter and Dora (Knoke) Kallsen. Her mother, Dora, died from childbirth fever after the birth of her eighth child when Dolores was four years old. Her father remarried Malinda Rieck and they created a blended family of eleven children. The family remained very close all through the years. Dolores was raised in and around South English, Iowa and attended Kinross High School. Later she attended Iowa State Teachers College and graduated from Arizona State College in Flagstaff in 1953. She taught elementary school for 30 years in St. Johns, Arizona and at Navajo Elementary School in Scottsdale, Arizona. While at college in Arizona, Dolores met and married Harold Gibbons in 1951 and they had four children. Her love for Jesus Christ and her desire for the truth led her to her conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1952. Her life and service has been a testament to her unwavering faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its teachings. Following her divorce, she married Rudolph Modro from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania in 1964 and their bond is a true testament of the power of love and companionship. They lived and worked in Mesa, Arizona and spent summers in Chippewa, Pennsylvania. She retired from teaching in Arizona in 1986 and they moved to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. Her beloved husband, Rudy, died in 2005 and she moved near her daughter, Toni, in Bridgeport, West Virginia from 2006-2021. She spent her final years at her daughter, Nikki's home in Plano, Texas where she died peacefully on November 19, 2024 at the age of 95. She loved being a wife and mother, her ancestors, collecting family histories and pictures, reading, learning, growing beautiful flower gardens, friends, clubs, traveling and yard-saling for her grandchildren. Her crowning accomplishment was her love for family history and a desire to share it with others. She labored for years researching family lines in original German documents. She collected, wrote, edited, formatted and produced four books of different family lines that she meticulously put together page by page making over 150 copies of these books for many different relatives. Dolores was also a proud member of the Chippewa Women’s Club, A.A.U.W., A.A.U.W. Book Club, Carnegie Library Book Club in Beaver Falls, Church Book Club, Antique Club, Garden Club, Outlook Club, Relief Society, and the Y.M.C.A. in New Brighton. She is an example of an incredible warrior who weathered every storm and challenge that allowed her to peacefully return home to our Heavenly Father and a loving eternal family. She leaves behind a legacy of love, faith and devotion that will influence and guide her family and friends forever. Dolores is survived by two sons, Timothy Gibbons and his wife Cathy of Caldwell, ID, and Michael Gibbons and his wife Marilyn of West Jordan, UT, three daughters, Nikki Romney and her husband Howard of Plano, Toni Haws and her husband Kim of Bridgeport, and Saundra Nowka of Florida, one sister, Della Rupert and her husband James of Iowa, 31 grandchildren, as well as 86 great grandchildren. In addition to her parents and husband, Dolores was preceded in death by five brothers, Homer, Keith, Marvin, Lyle, and Kenneth Kallsen, four sisters, Lois Summer, Audry Ritter, Sylvia Lemley, and Ardath Paulsen, and three grandchildren, Travis Gibbons, Noah Haws, and Haley Ortega. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Dolores’s name to West Virginia Kids Cancer Crusader (WVKCC), P.O. Box 11029, Charleston, WV 25339. The family has entrusted the arrangements to the Ford Funeral Home, Allen Chapel, 215 East Main Street, Bridgeport. Friends will be received on Friday, November 29, 2024 from 9 am until 10 am in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 300 Arthurs Avenue, Clarksburg, WV 26301. The funeral service will be held in the church on Friday at 10 am with Bishop Jackson Hamrick presiding. A graveside service will be held the next day on Saturday, November 30, 2024 at 12 Noon in the Beaver Falls Cemetery and Memorial Park, 2045 Darlington Road, Beaver Falls, PA 15010. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.fordfuneralhomes.com.