Vivian A. (Dooley) Houts

Vivian Arlene (Dooley) Houts, daughter of Howard M. and Julia (Ware) Dooley, was born August 19, 1924, in Atchison County, Missouri near Hamburg, Iowa.  Vivian passed away in Kansas City, Missouri after a brief illness on September 28, 2018, at the age of 94.
Vivian attended Lewis Rural School near Hamburg, then Eagle School near Riverton, Iowa.  After the family moved to Hamburg, she attended the Hamburg Public School and graduated from Hamburg High School with the Class of 1942.
After high school, Vivian attended Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska, but returned to Hamburg after one year to help the family after the death of her father.  She became at teacher at Belcher country school west of town and later taught sixth grade for one year in the Hamburg Public School.
On March 26, 1947, Vivian was united in marriage to Jacob Richard Houts at her mother’s home in Hamburg.  They had one son, Richard Duane.
After the birth of their son, Vivian was a housewife and helped her husband on the family farm.  In 1956, she returned to teaching at Percival School in Percival, Iowa, and commuted to work each school day.  The Houts family moved to Percival in 1957.  After the Percival district consolidated with Sidney Community School, Vivian continued teaching first grade in Percival and later in Sidney for many years.  She also later taught for one year in the Malvern School District.
During these many years of teaching, Vivian was also attending classes at Peru State one evening per week and full time during the summer vacations until she completed the coursework to earn her Bachelor’s degree in 1966.
Vivian and the family moved from Percival to Sidney, Iowa in 1965, but she still commuted to Percival for her teaching position.  After retiring from teaching, Vivian and her husband, Richard, moved to Shenandoah, Iowa in 1978 where they enjoyed meeting with friends each afternoon at the local Wal-Mart for coffee and conversation.
Vivian was an active member of the First Baptist Church in Hamburg in her early life.  When she and her husband moved to Shenandoah, she transferred her membership to the First Baptist Church in Shenandoah.  After moving to Kansas City, Missouri in 2003, she became a member of the Nashua Baptist Church.
Vivian was a caring wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother and worked tirelessly to maintain the home for her husband and son.  For enjoyment, she liked to solve the Word Jumble puzzle in the daily newspaper and diligently spent hours with her dictionary working on this task.  After moving to Kansas City, she also devoted many hours to watching the televised games of the Kansas City Royals baseball team.
Vivian was preceded in death by her parents, Howard and Julia Dooley, husband Richard Houts in 1996, and sister Lucille (Dooley) Williams in 2011.  
Vivian is survived by her son, Richard Duane Houts of Kansas City, MO, grandchildren Donna (Houts) Dickinson of Kansas City, MO, Roger Houts (Dominique) of Seattle, WA, and great-grandchildren Jacob Potts and Deanna Lynn Potts of Kansas, City, MO.    She is also survived by nieces Diane Remar (Jim) of Ralston, NE; Mary Field (John) of Austin, TX; Ruth Folkes (Jim) of Hamburg, IA; Helen Martin (Henry) of Hamburg, IA; nephew Thomas Hein of Castroville, CA; great-nephews Jared Remar and Justin Remar of Ralston, NE; and other family and friends.
Memorials are suggested to Nashua Baptist Church, 11408 N. Main St., Kansas City, MO 64155.

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