Rosalie E. Block

Rosalie Elaine (Yates) Block, 83, of Spirit Lake, Iowa, formerly of Hawarden, IA, and Sibley, IA, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, August 1, 2023 at Accura Healthcare of Spirit Lake, after a seven month battle with cancer. Services for Rosalie will be held at a later date in Hawarden, IA. Arrangements are under the direction of the Robinson Funeral Home in Spirit Lake, IA. Online condolences may be left at www.spiritlakefunerlhome.com Rosalie Elaine Yates was born April 9, 1940 in Sioux Center, IA to Jesse and Rose (Lindenman) Yates. She was raised on a farm east of Hawarden and attended country school, which was around the section from their farm. She graduated from Hawarden High School in 1957. She then attended Wayne State College. Rosalie met Ronald Peters at college and they married in 1963. They spent most of their married life in Sibley, IA, where Rosalie was an English teacher at Sibley High School for a short time and she was the Editor of the Sibley Gazette Tribune for a number of years. To this union three sons and a daughter were born: Steve, Dan, Mark and Cara. Rosalie always told Cara that she had to go until she got it right! She later met and married Steve Block in 1990, in Worthington, MN, and they moved around a bit. Making a home in Jackson, MN, Albert Lea, MN, and eventually, Raton, New Mexico where they stayed for about 10 years. Rosalie spent most of her career as a news reporter, but also as Head of Communications for Jackson Good Samaritan Center. For the last four years, Rosalie was back closer to home, living in Spirit Lake, IA. She loved laughing, reading, good bourbon, watching tennis, playing tennis, talking about tennis, and keeping in touch with the many friends she kept in all the places in which she lived. She was a terrible cook. She once put peas and carrots in Jello and thought it was a good idea. She was also the oldest patron of a Spirit Lake tattoo shop, getting her first tattoo at the age of 72. She received her cancer diagnosis in the fall of 2022. Her very good friend, Edie, shared her senior yearbook quote, which read, “Small and compact, but so is dynamite.” That pretty much sums her up and I’m sure a lot of the doctors she eventually came into contact with would agree. She wasn’t the best patient, but she fought hard until the end! Survivors include her three sons, Steve (Laurie) Peters of Freeport, FL, Daniel (Lori) Peters of Minneapolis, MN, Mark (Anne) Peters of Estherville, IA, and her daughter, Cara (Terry) Heiliger of Sibley, IA, and her grandchildren Nicholas Peters, Alyssa Peters, and Erica Peters. Rosalie was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Lyle Yates; her sister, Marilyn Dowdey; and her grandson, Samuel.

Rosalie E. Block

April 9, 1940 - August 1, 2023