Iola Ruth Turek, 79, of Sycamore, a registered nurse during World War II and one of the founders of the hospice unit of the Hines Veterans Hospital near Maywood, died Sunday, June 9, of cancer in Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb. Mrs. Turek was born in Tell City, Ind. She was a first lieutenant in the Army Nurse Corps during World War II. After the war, she began working at Hines and later pursued postgraduate work in nursing administration at the University of Colorado. She returned to Hines in the 1950s, where she worked as the head nurse in the infectious disease ward. Before retiring in the early 1980s she helped found the hospice unit at the hospital. “She was a pioneer working, professional woman long before it became popular,” said her daughter Ava Woodward. “She was not a stay-at-home mom. She was the first woman in her family to work outside the home.” Mrs. Turek’s dedication to her work motivated two of her daughters and two of her nieces to pursue nursing. She is also survived by her husband, Arthur; two other daughters, Alanna Eiter and Ana Linn; a son, Andrew; two brothers, Donald and Keith Lamkin; and six grandchildren. Services were held in Sycamore.
