<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">Good afternoon all; I shared the obituary with others around the country, which includes national leadership. Thanks Intesar for sharing it with us!<div><br><div><div>
<meta charset="UTF-8"><div dir="auto" style="caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: rgb(0, 0, 0); letter-spacing: normal; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;"><div>Helen Mejia, President</div>National Federation of the Blind<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>of Iowa<br>hmejia@nfbi.org<br>(570) 983-7867</div>
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<div><br><div>On Feb 21, 2025, at 2:53 PM, April Enderton via Tall-Corn <tall-corn@nfbnet.org> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div>Has anyone contacted the national office about Dolores? Also, it would be a good idea to submit Dolores's obituary to the Braille Monitor.<br><br>Sincerely,<br><br>April<br><br><br><br><br>----- Original Message -----<br>From: Intesar Duncan via Tall-Corn <tall-corn@nfbnet.org><br>Date: Friday, February 21, 2025 09:29 AM<br>To: NFB of Iowa Internet Mailing List <tall-corn@nfbnet.org><br>CC: Intesar Duncan <idsummerlove@gmail.com><br>Subject: [Tall-Corn] Dolores Reisinger Obituary<br><br>Good Afternoon NFBI Family,<br>Below please find the very impressive obituary which appears today on the<br>Cedar Memorial Park Funeral Home's website, which is both copied below and<br>may be found at:<br>https://www.cedarmemorial.com/Obituary/2025/Feb/Dolores-M-Reisinger/<br>Dolores Molina Reisinger, 93, passed away February 17, 2025, at Meth-Wick<br>Community. A visitation will be held Monday, February 24, 9-10 a.m., at All<br>Saints Catholic Church, 720 29th St. SE, Cedar Rapids, followed by a<br>funeral mass, 10-11 a.m. Burial will take place at Cedar Memorial Cemetery,<br>4200 First Ave., Cedar Rapids at 1 p.m.<br>Dolores was preceded in death by her husband, Jack Reisinger, and her<br>parents Dolores Munhoz and João Molina. Surviving relatives, all of Sao<br>Paulo, Brazil, include her sisters Dirce Molina Munhoz and Vera Lucia<br>Molina (Darcio Francisco) Marcilio; two nephews, Thiago Molina (Dainana<br>Santana) Marcilio and Marcelo Molina (Rosana) Marcilio; a niece, Valeria<br>Marcilio (Fernando) Triboni; five great-nieces and -nephews, Antonella<br>Santana, Vitoria and Mariana Marcilio, and Bruno Marcilio and Fernanda<br>Marcilio Triboni; a cousin she was particularly close to, Magali Munhoz;<br>and several dear friends including Kathy Hall, who was with Dolores daily<br>from the time she moved from her home to memory care at Meth-Wick.<br>Dolores was born February 5, 1932, and grew up in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in a<br>loving family. She was six months old when her parents learned she was<br>blind. They were determined Dolores grow up as a 'normal' person, capable<br>of learning through her remaining senses, and above all, her mind. They<br>allowed her to grow not only physically but mentally, emotionally and<br>intellectually.<br>Dolores attended a special Catholic school for blind children, run by the<br>sisters of St. Vincent de Paul. After elementary and secondary school, she<br>attended Sao Paulo State University, earning a Master of History degree.<br>She taught in Brazil until 1968, when she was invited by the US State<br>Department and the International Federation of the Blind to visit America<br>for a two-month exchange program. The purpose of the trip was to observe<br>schools and rehabilitation centers for blind Americans.<br>During her trip to America, Dolores met her future husband, Jack. They were<br>married March 8, 1969, after Dolores decided to leave her home country and<br>permanently move to the United States. At the time, Brazil was experiencing<br>political and military oppression; there was no freedom of press, no<br>freedom of speech, public meetings were not allowed, and citizens were not<br>allowed to voice their opinions.<br>Once in the US, Dolores learned her Brazilian degree was not recognized, so<br>she went back to school. She earned a teaching certificate and Master of<br>Spanish degree from the University of Northern Iowa. She spent the next<br>several years teaching Spanish at Columbus High School in Waterloo.<br>In 1976, Dolores went to work for the Iowa Department for the Blind as a<br>vocational rehabilitation teacher, serving 11 counties. For more than 18<br>years, she worked with blind individuals, teaching them the skills they<br>needed to help them live independently. She also helped them understand<br>that blind persons, given an opportunity, can overcome what she called the<br>'inconvenience' of loss of sight. She adamantly taught and believed the<br>real problem of blindness is misunderstanding and lack of information,<br>quite often caused by public attitudes, misconceptions and social<br>prejudices.<br>After retirement, Dolores volunteered as a member of the Cedar Rapids Civil<br>Rights Commission. During that time, she received the first of many signed<br>proclamations by the mayor of Cedar Rapids for "White Cane Safety Day" each<br>October 15. She also served on the Linn County "Help America Vote Act" task<br>force, which looked at election systems to ensure accessibility for<br>individuals who are blind and visually impaired.<br>Additionally, Dolores taught English as a Second Language and Portuguese<br>classes at Kirkwood Community College. She often spoke in front of groups<br>about blindness and the National Federation of the Blind (NFB). Every<br>October, during Meet the Blind Month, she actively pursued opportunities to<br>educate the community about blindness, including handing out literature at<br>public libraries, presenting in classrooms, and demonstrating her Braille<br>typewriter. One of her favorite materials to share was the NFB's Courtesy<br>Rules of Blindness:<br>• *Cane *– My cane (or guide dog) is my independent travel aid. If you<br>think I might need help, please just ask me.<br>• *Ordinary *– Blind people are ordinary. It feels awkward if you think I<br>am amazing when I accomplish ordinary tasks like walking or tying my shoes.<br>I also like ordinary things and have ordinary hobbies. It is okay to be<br>amazed if I do something really exceptional.<br>• *Understand *– I may not recognize your voice if I don't know you well.<br>Please say, "Hi, it is Sue."<br>• *Remember *– I may have some sight but use nonvisual techniques and tools<br>like a cane because it works best for me. Sometimes people think I am<br>"faking" because I see a little, but I am just picking techniques that are<br>most efficient and safe in light of my vision.<br>• *Talk *– Please talk to me rather than a companion, and there is no need<br>to speak up so just use your normal speaking voice and talk with me like<br>you would with other people.<br>• *Experience *– I probably have years of experience using nonvisual<br>techniques to live my life. Feel free to ask me how I do something, or how<br>best you can assist me, if help is needed.<br>• *See *– It's ok to still use words such as see and look. I will talk with<br>you like everyone else, although I may not be able to make direct eye<br>contact.<br>• *Yield *– In all 50 states, the law requires drivers to yield the right<br>of way when they see my extended white cane or guide dog. Only the blind<br>may legally carry white canes. I listen to traffic patterns to know when to<br>cross streets and to keep a straight line when moving around.<br>Above all, Dolores was devoted to her Catholic faith. She was a longtime<br>member of All Saints parish. She never missed a mass and treated every<br>Sunday like a special occasion, arranging a lunch date with a friend every<br>week. At All Saints, she enjoyed lecturing, knitting with the shawl<br>ministry, and loved to attend and help with church activities like<br>decorating for Christmas, packing meals for Take Away Hunger and partaking<br>in potlucks and celebrations.<br>Everyone who knew Dolores could easily recognize her determination. She was<br>a strong person who was never defeated. She enriched the lives of a great<br>number of people and will be loved and missed by all.<br>In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to the National<br>Federation of the Blind or All Saints Catholic Church.<br>On Fri, Feb 21, 2025 at 9:08 AM Sandy and Terry Poldberg via Tall-Corn <<br>tall-corn@nfbnet.org> wrote:<br><blockquote type="cite">I too echo all that has been said about Dolores. She truly wasa lot of<br>fun. She always would not reveal her age saying she was ageless. I worked<br>with her at the IDB for many years. Whenever wehad staff meetings and she<br>was in Des Moines, we would eat lunch together and had many good<br>conversations. She was a champion for blind people and was very active in<br>spreading the word about blindness. She will be missed.<br><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Tall-Corn mailing list<br>Tall-Corn@nfbnet.org<br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/tall-corn_nfbnet.org<br>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for<br>Tall-Corn:<br><br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/tall-corn_nfbnet.org/idsummerlove%40gmail.com<br><br></blockquote><br>_______________________________________________<br>Tall-Corn mailing list<br>Tall-Corn@nfbnet.org<br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/tall-corn_nfbnet.org<br>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Tall-Corn:<br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/tall-corn_nfbnet.org/hmejia%40nfbi.org<br></div></div></div><br></div></div></body></html>