Leola E. Rinker, 1884-1977

Daily Iowegian - 17 January 1977

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  Leola E. Rinker, 92, of 544 North Main, Centerville, died Monday, January 17, 1977, in St. Joseph Hospital.

  Born November 1, 1884, near Numa, she was the daughter of Robert Franklin and Julia Ann Brinkley Rinker. She was a retired school teacher, having taught in Woodbury County rural schools, and third grade in Ames for many years before retirement.

  She was a member of the retired teachers' association, the Order of Eastern Star, and First Methodist Church.

  Survivors include a sister, Nellie Watts, Oklahoma City, and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, two sisters and seven brothers.

  The body is at Johnson Funeral Home, and funeral arrangements are pending.

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Daily Iowegian - 18 January 1977

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  Services for Leola E. Rinker will be Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. at Johnson Funeral Home, with Rev. George Gibson officiating. Burial will be in Jerome Cemetery. A memorial to the United Methodist Church has been established, and gifts may be left at the funeral home.

  Miss Rinker, a longtime instructor in Iowa schools, died Monday, January 17, in St. Joseph Hospital. 

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Leola Rinker's Gravestone in the Jerome Cemetery

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Photographs of Leola Rinker

Leola Rinker - 1959
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The editor sincerely appreciates the contribution of the four photographs above of Leola Rinker to The Jerome Journal by Geraldine Rinker of Augusta, Georgia.

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Waterloo Newspaper Article - 1907
Many Teachers Get Certificates
82 Out of 118 Applicants in Black Hawk County Pass
Enough to Supply All Rural Schools in the County

  County Supt. Elliott this morning received from Des Moines the returns of the examination held in July and is now mailing them to the applicants who wrote the examination in this county, eighty-two receiving certificates, which is about seventy-eight per cent, an average far high that that of most counties in the state. The record of ten applicants who failed to secure certificates were marked with the letter "P," indicating that their grades were so near the passing mark that provisional certificates would be issued to them if requested by the county superintendent in the county in which they were to teach. The list of those for whom certificates were received is as follows:

Applicants at Cedar Falls

... Leola Rinker ... 

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Iowa News in Brief - 1912

  HAWARDEN -- The Hawarden school board has elected the following teachers for the next school year: ... first grammar, Leola Rinker ...

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Ames City Directories

- 1940: Rinker Leola tchr Roosevelt Sch r621 W 7th

- 1945: Rinker Leola tchr Roosevelt Sch r318 9th

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Class Photos - Roosevelt School in Ames, Iowa

  The Ames Historical Society website includes two pictures of Leola Rinker with her students at the Roosevelt School in Ames: (1) Third Grade Class photo from the 1945-1946 school year taken at the front entrance of Roosevelt School and (2) Third Grade Class photo from the 1945-1956 school year taken in the classroom with Miss Leola Rinker standing at the blackboard. Both photos were provided to the Ames Historical Society by F. Terrill Adams.

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Ames Daily Tribune - 29 May 1950

News from Grade Schools of Ames

Roosevelt School - Turtles Brought to School

  Miss Leona Rinker's third grade pupils have two turtles in their room.  Mike Rodenhaugh brought a snapping turtle to class, and Barbara Calhoun brought a mud turtle.  The children have been reading about the turtles in science. They have been studying their habits and ways of living, and enjoyed watching them in class. 

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Notes from Geraldine Rinker of Augusta, Georgia

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  Leola Rinker attended, 1890-1898, the Wilson School, near Numa, Appanoose County, Iowa. She attended, 1903-1905, and graduated from Highland Park College in Des Moines, Iowa, taking courses in teacher's training.  

View of Highland Park College in Des Moines - c1914

  She was a teacher in various places, 1905-1926, until she returned to Des Moines in 1926 to take the Primary Teaching Course at Des Moines University. [Note: Highland Park College was established in Des Moines in 1889 and operated under that name until 1918, when the Baptist church bought it and renamed it Des Moines University. An interesting history of the schools on this site appears on the Des Moines Public Library website.]   
  From 1928 to 1950 she was employed as a teacher in Ames, Iowa.  She then returned to Centerville, Iowa, and lived with her brother, Purley Rinker. 

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Leola Rinker - Census Records 

--1885 Iowa State Census, Appanoose County, Lincoln Township; Roll: IA1885_144; Line 11; Family Number: 42. [Ancestry.com. Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925 (database-online), Provo, UT, USA]: Township 68, Range 19, Section 21, NENE.  Ola Rinker, 0, Born Appanoose County, Female.  Other members of household: Robert F. Rinker, 45; Julia Rinker, 38; William J. Rinker, 17; John Rinker, 16; Thomas M. Rinker, 13; Charles O. Rinker, 11; Robert F. Rinker, 9; George Rinker, 7; Mary Rinker, 5; Purly Rinker, 3. 
--1895 Iowa State Census, Appanoose County, Lincoln Township; Roll: IA1885_287; Line 24; Family Number: 41.  [Ancestry.com. Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925 (database-online), Provo, UT, USA]:  Ola E. Rinker, 10, Female, Single, Born: App Co Iowa.  Other members of household: Robert F. Rinker, 56; Julia A. Rinker, 49; Frank Rinker, 18; Homer C. Rinker, 21; George E. Rinker, 19; Pearley Rinker, 18; Nella R. Rinker, 7.
--1900 U.S. Census, Lincoln, Appanoose, Iowa; Roll T623_416; Page 4A; Enumeration District: 16. [Ancestry.com 1900 United State Federal Census (database on-line), Provo, UT, USA]: Ola E. Rinker, daughter (of Robert F. Rinker), White, Female, Born Nov 1884, 15, Single, Born Iowa, Father Born: Indiana; Mother Born: Ohio; At School; Can read; Can write; Can speak English. Other members of household: Robert F. Rinker (Head), Julia A. (Wife), Pearl (Son) and Nellie R. (Daughter).
--1905 Iowa State Census, Lincoln Township, Appanoose County, Iowa, Roll: IA-75; Line: 43. [Ancestry.com. Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925 (database on-line), Provo, UT, USA]: Leola Rinker living with R. F. Rinker (father) Julia Ann Rinker (mother) and Nelly Rinker (sister) at a Numa Post Office Address.
--1910 U.S. Census, Cripple Creek Ward 1, Teller, Colorado; Roll T624_125; Page: 4B; Enumeration District: 193; Image: 1150.  [Ancestry.com. 1910 United States Federal Census (database on-line), Provo, UT, USA]: Leola Rinker: Relation to Head of Household: Sister; Female; White; 25; Single; Birthplace: Iowa; Father's Birthplace: Iowa; Mother's Birthplace: Missouri; Speaks English; Teacher; School; Able to Read; Able to Write.  Resided with her brother John Rinker (attorney), his wife, Leona, and son, Theodore. 
--1915 Iowa State Census, Centerville, Appanoose County, Ward 1st, Card No. A851.  [Ancestry.com. Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925 (database on-line), Provo, UT, USA]: Leola Rinker: Age 30; Occupation: Teacher; Months in 1914 Unemployed: 3; Total earnings for 1914 from occupation: $600.; Extent of Education: Grammar - 8, High School - 4, College - 2; Birth Place: Iowa; Church Affiliation: Methodist; Father's Birthplace: Iowa; Mother's Birthplace: Ohio; Female; Color: White; Single; Read: Yes; Write: Yes; Years in Iowa: 30; Signed by Jno Batterton.
--1920 U.S. Census, Jamestown Ward 4, Stutsman, North Dakota; Roll T625_1341; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 239; Image 479.  [Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census (database-online), Provo, UT, USA]
--1925 Iowa State Census, Center Township, Appanoose County, Roll IA1925_1590, Images: 117, 118 and 119. [Ancestry.com. Iowa State Census Collection, 1836-1925 (database-online), Provo, UT, USA]
--1930 U.S. Census, Ames, Story, Iowa; Roll 683; Page: 25B; Enumeration District: 6; Image: 590.0 [Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census (database on-line), Provo, UT, USA]: Leona (sic) Rinker, Lodger, Female, White, 47, Single;Born: Iowa; Father Born: Indiana; Mother Born: Ohio; Teacher, Public School.

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Social Security Death Index

Leola Rinker, SSN: 479-30-4336 issued Iowa (Before 1951), Born 1 Nov 1884, Died Jan 1977, Las Residence: 52544 Centerville, Appanoose, Iowa, USA.  [Ancestry.com.  Social Security Death Index (database on-line), Provo, UT, USA]

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