Ora Mae Bro

TOLEDO-Ora Mae Bro, 94, of Toledo, passed away Monday, December 11, 2023, at Sunny Hill Care Center in Tama. A Memorial Service will be held Friday, December 15, 2023, at 1:00 PM at Kruse-Phillips Funeral Home in Tama. Interment will follow at Woodlawn Cemetery in Toledo.

Ora Mae was born on September 26, 1929, in Toledo, Iowa, the daughter of Hanners and Pearl (Gray) Lorenzen.

She graduated from Toledo High School and attended Coe College in Cedar Rapids for music.

On July 27, 1951, she was united in marriage to Franklin Bro at the Presbyterian Church in Toledo. Ora Mae was a mother and farm wife. Music was her life and she directed choirs and sang at many funerals and weddings over the years. Her Christmas Cantata in the community was well known for almost fifty years. Ora Mae was active in many activities in the churches that she attended. She started running before running was popular. Ora Mae was in her 60’s, when she rode across the state in Ragbrai three times. She made sure the events of her busy life were recorded in her diary every day of her adult life.

Survivors include five children, Jill (Tony) de Laubenfels, of Mt. Vernon, Erin Bro (Mark Pennell), of Marshalltown, Matt (Deb) Bro, of Queen Creek, AZ, Paula (Todd) Lober, of Gilbert, AZ, and Brett (Brenda) Bro, of Toledo; her son-in-law, Paul Bartelt, of Forest City; fifteen grandchildren; twenty-nine great-grandchildren; one sister, Ann (Jerry) Hendricks, of Tama; and many nieces and nephews.

Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband, Franklin on May 4, 2019; one daughter, Marcia Bartelt; one son in infancy, Nathan Christian; one granddaughter, Cindy Hall; two sisters, Marian Simmonds and Nancy Moyer.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund will be established.