Biography

Ilo Rowell was born on a northern Delaware County farm in 1932 and graduated from Edgewood High School in 1949. She married Donald Rhines the following year, and later moved into the Rhines’ family farm. They had a dairy herd and began dairying. They were active with the National Farmers’ Organization (NFO) in Delaware County and participated in the milk holding actions of the NFO in the 1960s. Unable to support their family on their farm income, Ilo Rhines worked occasional jobs until she obtained a rural mail route which she ran from 1979 to 1993. In 2001, she was president of the United Methodist Women of the Dubuque District.

Found in 1 Collection or Record: