Deanna Lee Lockhorst

IRETON, IOWA ~ Deanna L. Lockhorst, 87, of Ireton, passed away on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, at Crown Pointe Estates in Sioux Center, Iowa.

Funeral Service will be 11:00 a.m. Monday, September 21, 2026, at First Reformed Church in Ireton, Iowa with Rev. Gerald Norman officiating. Burial will follow at Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Ireton. A luncheon at the Ireton Community Center will be after the committal service. Visitation with the family will be Sunday from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the First Reformed Church. The Porter Funeral Home in Ireton is assisting the family. Condolences may be sent to www.porterfuneralhomes.com. The funeral service will be livestreamed on the church website: www.iretonfirstreformed.com. The funeral service will also be recorded and uploaded to Deanna’s obituary page on the Porter Funeral Home website.

The family would like memorials be directed to the First Reformed Church in Ireton.

Deanna was born January 7, 1939, to Wilbert “Wilbur” and Elizabeth “Betty” (Jensen) Cain in Hawarden, Iowa. She grew up with four loving brothers in Hawarden’s Frogpond neighborhood and attended Hawarden Schools for many years. She was awarded her GED in March of 1973 in the midst of being a full-time wife and mother.

On Friday, April 13, 1956, Deanna married Don Lockhorst, and they enjoyed a beautiful life together for nearly 70 years. They made their home in Ireton where they raised their four children. Deanna was a devoted homemaker, taking great joy in sewing, canning, and cooking for her family.

In 1985, Deanna began working in the laundry department at Hillcrest Care Center in Hawarden. In 1991, she began working in the laundry department at Sioux Center Community Hospital and Health Center, where she retired in 2012. Her family is now enjoying many stories of the quiet impact she made on her coworkers as a kind friend and listener. Deanna spent the last few months of her life at Crown Pointe Estates where she reconnected and was lovingly cared for by her former coworkers.

Deanna will always be remembered for her deep love for her family. She loved sharing meals together. Her love language was making delicious “big meals” - roast beef and mashed potatoes, seven-layer Jello, baked beans, cookies of all kinds, and yummy banana bread, just to name a few. It gave her great joy to have large family gatherings and watch everyone eat the food she had worked hard to prepare. Her classic line at the end of those meals was, “Did you get enough to eat? I could still make you a sandwich.” Every meal ended with dessert. Along with the family-favorite banana bread, Deanna was well known for her strawberry and raspberry jams, and many kinds of candy she made and shared at Christmastime.

Over the years, Don and Deanna traveled together and enjoyed many bus tours and cruises. Together, they also enjoyed many friendships. Deanna loved to crochet with her friends and was a member of the “Happy Hookers” crochet group, which met each week to crochet, visit, and of course, enjoy coffee and dessert. Many of her children and grandchildren are blessed to have items she crocheted for them displayed in their homes.

Deanna was a long-time member of the First Reformed Church of Ireton, where she served in many capacities over the years, especially in the Women’s Guild. She loved serving the church by preparing food for soup suppers, potlucks, funerals, and Vacation Bible School. Her husband Donald passed away on February 9th of this year and met Deanna in heaven following her death.

Those left to cherish her memory are her children and their spouses, Melodee and Dana Grefe, Gary and Rhoda Lockhorst, Michael and Jan Lockhorst, and Nancy and Michael Johnson; grandchildren, Eric and Robin Lockhorst, Bradley Grefe, Rachel Stahlecker, Danica Tereau, Andrew Johnson, Josiah and Lauren Johnson, Lauren Hope Johnson and her fiancé Ben Williams, John Tayloe, and Jenna and Josh Groven; 11 great-grandchildren; brothers, Dan Cain, Steve (Connie) Cain; surviving in-laws, Herm Oldenkamp and Sharon Cain, and many nieces and nephews.

Deanna was preceded in death by many family members and friends. This includes Wilbur and Betty Cain, Peter and Christine Lockhorst, Larry and Mona Cain, Bert Cain, Jan Cain, Peter and Priscilla Lockhorst, Adrianna and Darold Bultman, Les Webert, Fred and Jeanette Boogerd, Melvin and Dorothy Hulshof, Garold and Christina Cleveringa, Paul and Geri Lockhorst, and Grace Oldenkamp.