BOONE, Iowa—Funeral arrangements have been set for 81 year old Margarete E. Fibikar of Boone, Iowa. She passed away at her home on Tuesday, March 9, 2021.
Visitation will be held from 4:00 until 7:00 P.M. on Friday, April 2, 2021 at the Schroeder-Reimers Memorial Chapel at Sixth and Marshall Streets in Boone. A private family service will be held at a later date followed by burial in Linwood Park Cemetery in Boone.
In Riga, Latvia on March 20, 1939 a baby girl was born to Nikolai Feyler and his wife, Helene (Michaelsen) Feyler. They named her Margarete Elisabeth Feyler. She was baptized on June 18, 1939 at St. Petri Church in Riga. When she was 9 months old, they moved to Gdansk, Poland, because the Russians were overtaking Latvia. During the second World War, she remembered the air raid sirens and going into the bomb shelters. In 1945, the German government moved them by cattle train to Leipzig, East Germany. While under communist rule, she worked cleaning up rubble on Sundays, so she was unable to attend church. After seven years under communist rule, they escaped to West Germany in 1952. She was confirmed on March 20, 1953 in Hanau, West Germany.
Margarete met Edwin Fibikar on December 31, 1958 while attending a New Year’s Eve party. Ed was in the US Army with Margarete’s cousin, who threw this party. It was not love at first sight, Margarete would barely talk to Ed, but with time the two fell in love. On March 13, 1960, Margarete was united in marriage with Edwin C. Fibikar in Darmstad, Germany, in order for Margarete to be able to go home to the United States with Ed. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1974.
Margarete was a homemaker while their daughters were growing up. Later in life when the girls were off to college, she began working for Hallmark for 5 years before retiring.
Margarete was a loving mother and wife first. She also loved cooking, being as talented as a chef. Ed and Margarete had Sunday dinner with several other ladies, then would play cards after the gourmet meal. She had a green thumb for plants and flowers. The neighbors could bring a dying plant to Margarete and she would turn its life around and have it flourish. In her later years, Ed and Margarete added onto their home to have a greenhouse for Margarete to keep all her plants, flowers, and even trees.
Margarete survived many health problems and 61 years with Ed.
Margarete is preceded in death by her grandmother; parents; brothers, John and Kurt Feyler; sisters, Helga Schmunski, Ursula Kretschmann, and Bridgete Feyler. She is survived by her husband of nearly 61 years, Ed Fibikar; daughters, Charlene Nelson of Allentown, PA and Ronna Fibikar (husband, Noel Brady) of Cavan, Ireland; “adopted” daughter, Esther Meier; grandchildren, Ethan Fibikar, Lindsay, Audrey, and Grant Nelson; brothers, Hermann and Horst Feyler; along with numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Schroeder-Reimers Memorial Chapel at Sixth and Marshall Streets in Boone. Online condolences may be left to Margarete’s family at www.schroedermemorialchapel.com
Margarete E. Fibikar, 81, Boone, Iowa
