Delores (Dee) Y Prellberg

Delores (Dee) Y Prellberg, 88, passed peacefully with family by her side on Oct. 4. 2017 after a short illness. Born Nov. 3, 1928 in Chicago, Ill. Dee graduated from Carthage College (Carthage, Ill.) with a degree in music and it was there she met and married Fred, who was her husband until his death in 2007. Married in 1950, they moved to Rockford, Ill., and then to Overland Park, Kan., where she worked as a psychiatric social worker, salesperson and realtor until semi-retirement took them to Bella Vista, Ark. Her lifelong passions included playing bridge with 'the girls,' listening to classical music (not popular music - "it all sounds the same" was an endearing saying of hers; she especially enjoyed hearing her grandson, Nate Carterette, a classical pianist, perform), beating her offspring in the word board games Scrabble & Anagrams (which she continued to do up until the end) and watching/playing tennis. So ardent was her love of tennis that when she suffered a serious shoulder injury late in life, she simply switched from right-handed to left-handed, teaching herself how to stroke, despite never doing anything 'lefty' her entire life. She was a proud life member of Sigma Alpha Iota. Dee is survived by four children: Mark (Kansas City, Mo.), Thom (Kay) (Lee's Summit, Mo.), Fred III (Mahvash) (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) and Joanne (Scottsdale, Ariz.), seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by husband Fred, daughter Patricia and brothers Delmar & Bruce Ronk. Services will be held at Park Ridge Communities, 4309 E. Park Ridge Blvd., Lee's Summit, Mo., on Sat. Oct. 28 at 11 am. Memorial contributions may be made to Japanese Chin Care & Rescue Effort, www.japanesechinrescue.org, in honor of the many beloved Chins that Dee and Fred shared their home with.