Iola Louise Costello

Iola Louise DeCicco Costello passed away in her sleep on August 3, 2013. She was born on September 27, 1929, in Muskegon, Michigan. She married Thomas William Costello (deceased 06/20/1989) on September 11, 1954. She had two children.

She had many and varied positions in her work career which began with working while in high school in a soda fountain, at a drug store and waitressing. After high school she began working at Aetna Casualty Insurance in Chicago, Illinois. She did basic office work and advanced to helping to write policies which included learning to read the actuary charts that were used for insurance purposes of the day.

She then began her bookkeeping career with the Hertz Drive Ur-Self Auto Systems in Chicago. She married an Army fella, Thomas, and then began her world travels – Texas, Alabama (two separate duty stations), New Jersey, and Oklahoma, with the occasional stay in Chicago to live with her mother-in-law while Thomas was out of country for the Army for extended periods of time. While in Oklahoma she put her bookkeeping skills to work for the Moore Hat Company, who made all sorts of cowboy hats.

In 1964, Thomas received orders to go to West Germany and his family was allowed to accompany him to Mainz, located in the Rhine Valley. She worked for a time at the AEFS Shoe warehouse and processed orders for distribution to Military Based Stores. Her co-workers were an international group who spoke all different languages. Her communication skills got a workout.

While in Germany she was not one to stay home in Little USA – aka the military base. She took her children all over Mainz shopping – bakeries, butcher shops, and a variety of stores. The language barrier didn’t stop her from experiencing the German people and their culture.

While in Germany she was very involved with the Girl Scouts, and became a pro at camping with a hoard of pre-teen girls in the cold and rainy mountains where she learned to start a cook fire in the rain.

In 1968, Thomas was stationed at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, where he retired with his family.

Iola continued working as a bookkeeper for a variety of businesses until she took classes at Brevard Community College and began working with Holmes Regional Medical Center as a Ward Clerk. She worked in several different areas of the hospital including the emergency room, the lab, and ending up with the insurance billing area. After she retired from HRMC, she worked part-time with Holmes Regional Hospice, again, doing insurance processing.

In 1993, she moved to Tallahassee with her daughter helping to her raise her two grandsons whose father had died suddenly the year before. She had been a member of Epiphany Lutheran Church for many years. She was a member of the Senior Group and she had volunteered with the Epiphany quilters for a time. And for the past two years, she volunteered to read to the 2-year olds at the Epiphany VPK School one day a week.

She is survived by her daughter, Joann Hartmann (E. Edward, deceased 05/31/1992), Tallahassee, her son, William “Bill” Costello (Vickie) Jackson, Missouri, one sister, Bernona Fry in Michigan, two grandsons, Christopher Hartmann (Lauren) and Jason Hartmann (Lily) both of Tallahassee, and three great-grand children, Owen Hartmann (3yrs old), Gibson Hartmann (17 months old) and Lenore Hartmann (11 months old), as well as several nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Epiphany Lutheran Church (8300 Deerlake Road West, Tallahassee) on Sunday, September 22, 2013 at 4:00 p.m. A graveside service will be held at Brevard Memorial Park (320 Spring Street, Cocoa, FL) on Saturday, September 28, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. She will be laid to rest beside her husband of 35 years, Thomas.

Donations can be made to Epiphany Lutheran Church for the Epiphany Quilters and/or Epiphany VPK School.