Olive Marilyn Kane

Though Olive lived several years with Alzheimer’s disease, she never lost her happy disposition or zest for life. Funeral services will be held 11:00am Friday, March 21, 2025, at St. Paul Lutheran Church Davenport. The family will greet friends one hour prior to the service on Friday. Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association and please share condolences with the family at www.rungemortuary.com.

Olive was born July 22, 1929 in Waterloo, Iowa during the Depression, but the deprivation of her childhood did not stifle her optimistic outlook on life. Her marriage to Benjamin Kane on August 30, 1952 marked the beginning of a lifetime of love. Together they set about working hard and creating a wonderful life together. Olive worked as a nurse prior to starting a family, and after saving for and buying their first house, they had three children- Jeffrey, Thomas and Suzanne. All her children recall a mom who sang while cleaning the house and who remembered the words and tunes to all the jingles of the day. Having moved to Bettendorf when the kids were small, Olive set her mind to learning to drive in her 30’s and was successful. Years later, she would enjoy many car rides with her grandchildren, driving them to and from school, lessons, and practices- all while having little sense of direction, but that did not slow her down. An artist and writer, Olive painted (a talent she shared with her sister Beverly) and wrote poetry throughout her whole life. Even as her memory faded, she still remembered that she had painted the landscape hanging on the wall in her room.

Olive never met a baby she didn’t love and made friends wherever she went. She met those she loved where they needed with a laugh or a tear, and bore her heart openly. She was a storyteller with a talent for detail, and her stories reflected her empathy and belief in never sweating the small stuff and laughing through hardship.

In retirement Ben and Olive enjoyed traveling, and after Ben passed away, Olive discovered cruises and made lasting memories with family on those adventures, many of which involved balloon hats, dancing, and sandy beaches.

Left to cherish her memory are her children, Jeffrey Kane (Laura), Thomas Kane (Susan) and Suzanne Wallace-Blankenfeld (Phil), grandchildren Shannon Shechter (Ashton) and Alaina Wallace (Tobey), and several nieces and nephews. Olive was preceded in death by her husband Ben, her brother Boyd Leckington, her sister Beverly Raap, and son-in-law David Wallace.

The family would like to give heartfelt thanks to the staff at Quartet Senior Living for taking wonderful care of Olive.