Ione I. Raeker

Ione Isabel Raeker (Krantz)
Ione Isabel Raeker, 87, of Brooklyn Center, passed away on March 16, 2024, from lung cancer and dementia. Ione was born September 14, 1936, in Spring Hill, MN, to Ben and Veronica (Och) Krantz.  
Ione grew up in Lake Henry, MN, with her six brothers. She started working at the young age of 14 as a nanny/helper to a family in a neighboring town.  She also worked for some time in St Cloud before moving to Minneapolis with several girlfriends.  She met Curly at a baseball game in Lake Henry; they married in 1957 and built a home in Brooklyn Center where they raised a family of five.  She was the only daughter in a family of seven; she often said that’s why she had four daughters.
Mom went back to work after her children were in high school and was hired by Pillsbury in their R&D test kitchen, thanks to a recommendation from her brother Jim.  She retired at 60, after 20 years of service at Pillsbury – something she was very proud of. In later years she volunteered at Our Lady of Victory Church in Minneapolis.
She enjoyed traveling with family and friends, camping, the Minnesota Twins, and gardening.  Her great joys were her family – especially grandchildren – and the “lake place” on Lake Sylvia, near Melrose, MN.  She remained in her own home until her death.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Harold (Curly) Raeker, brothers Stan, Jerome and Jim.  She is survived by children Scott (Barb Price) Raeker, Sherry (Ken Dixon) Raeker, Janet (Dan) Jakobitz, Denise (Greg) Haas, and Carolyn (Allan) Coleman, 11 grandchildren (Alex, Neda, Michel, Melissa, Chris, Emma, Ben, Maggie, Jacob, Jeremy, and Marissa), and 5 great-grandchildren (Arjun, Rush, Beckham, Emmett, and Wade); brothers Dennis (Delores), Gary (Pat) and Chuck; sisters-in-law Marlene Krantz, Arlene Raeker, Alice Saunders, Phyllis (Rod) Pelo, and many nieces and nephews. 
Special thanks to Mom’s care team at North Memorial Hospice.
Mass of Christian Burial at 10 am Friday, April 5, 2024, at Church of the Sacred Heart, 4087 W Broadway, Robbinsdale, MN.  Visitation one hour before Mass.  Private interment at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.