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Submitted: 8/15/19 • Approved: 8/15/19 • Last Updated: 12/14/23 • R270005-G270004-S3
Madonna's birth name Donna Mae was changed to Madonna Marie when she was four years old.
Birth 17 Oct 1929
Waterloo, Black Hawk County, Iowa, USA
Death 13 May 2005 (aged 75)
Pocahontas, Pocahontas County, Iowa, USA
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For 75 years, thousands of Iowa families in small towns and farms played acrucial role in the forerunner of the modern foster care system, yet thisnoteworthy fact has become a lost chapter of Iowa history.
From 1854 to 1929, a network of “orphan trains” relocated as many as 300,000 children from East Coast orphanages in cities like Boston and New York City to at least 39 of the states.
Approximately 8,000 to 10,000 of these needy children were brought to Iowa to live with both farmers and town residents, in at least 316 Iowa towns. Since the early 1990s, Madonna Harms has dedicated her days to managing the Iowa Orphan Train Research Center and Archives.
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MADONNA HARMS
Pocahontas, Iowa - - Madonna Marie Harms passed away Friday, May 13, 2005, in the Hospice Room at the Pocahontas Community Hospital, Pocahontas, Iowa.
She was born October 17, 1929, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Perry J. Hoffey and Agnes L. Cosgrove. She attended school at the Ottumwa Heights Academy in Ottumwa, Iowa, graduating in 1947. She went on to nurses' training at Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from 1947 to 1949.
Madonna married Howard B. Mullinix January 17, 1949, at Luverne, Minnesota and lived in Canton, South Dakota.
She married William H. Harms November 16, 1963, at South Sioux City, Nebraska. They made their home in Sioux Falls, later moving to Lakewood, California. Madonna achieved her Master's Degree in nursing while living in California.
In October of 1990, they moved to Rolfe, Iowa, and had lived there since that time.
Her hobby was genealogy, and she took great joy and pride in tracing her family tree as well as that of her husband, Bill.
Madonna was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter, Marilee K. Mullinix: a daughter, Gayle Mullinix; and a great-grandson, Joseph L. Collins.
Survivors include her husband, Bill: her children, Marsha and Tom Ingebretson of Columbia Heights, Minnesota, Michael Mullinix of Humboldt, Iowa, Ronald Mullinix of Sioux Falls, Robin Mullinix of Pocahontas, Iowa, and Dougles E. Harms of Sioux Falls; 16 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be Tuesday, May 17th at Powers Funeral Home, 500 Garfield St., Rolfe, IA from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. A Prayer service will begin at 7:00. A second service will be held at Miller Funeral Home 507 S. Main St., Sioux Falls, at 1:00 p.m. on Friday May 20th. Burial will follow at Trent Cemetery, Trent, South Dakota.
Argus Leader
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
May 15, 2005
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Rolfe, Iowa --- A prayer service for Madonna M. Harms, 75, was held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at the Powers Funeral Home, Rolfe, with Sara Galindo officiating
She was born October 17, 1929, in Waterloo, Iowa, the daughter of Perry J. Hoffey & Agnes L. Cosgrove. She attended school at Ottumwa Heights Academy in Ottumwa, Iowa, graduating in 1947. She went on to nurses training at Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from 1947 to 1949.
Madonna married Howard B. Mullinix January 17, 1949, at Luverne, Minne., and lived in Canton, South Dakota, where she was an officer of the VFW Ladies Auxilliary.
She married William H. Harms November 16, 1963, at South Sioux City, Nebraska. They made their home in Sioux Falls, later moving to Lakewood, California.
Madonna achieved her Master's Degree in nursing in California and was a member of the American Association of Medical Assistants. More recently, she was president of the Pocahontas Genealogical Society and vice-president of the National Orphan Train Society.
In October of 1990, they moved to Rolfe, Iowa, and have lived there since that time.
Her hobby was genealogy, and she took great joy and pride in tracing her family tree as well as that of her husband, Bill.
Madonna was preceded in death by her parents; a daughter, Marilee K. Mullinix; a daughter, Gayle Mullinix; and a great-grandson, Joseph L. Collins.
Survivors include her husband, Bill; her children, Marsha and Tom Ingebretson of Columbia Heights, Minnesota., Michael Mullinix of Humboldt, Iowa, Ronald Mullinix of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Robin Mullinix of Pocahontas, Iowa, and Douglas E. Harms of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 16 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.
Visitation was Tuesday, May 17th, at Powers Funeral Home, 500 Garfield St., Rolfe, Iowa, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. A Prayer service began at 7:00.
A second service was held at Miller Funeral Home, 507 S. Main St., Sioux Falls, at 1 p.m. Thursday, May 19th. Burial followed at Trent Cemetery, Trent, South Dakota.
The Record-Democrat Newspaper
Rolfe, Iowa, Wednesday
May 25, 2005
Contributed on 8/15/19
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Record #: 270005