Annette Marie Sales

Annette Marie Sales, 80, passed away on July 1, 2023, at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, IA following recent struggles with respiratory illness. Born Annette Rivard in Milwaukee, WI on June 13, 1943 to John and Marcella (Cernohous) Rivard, she was the second oldest of eleven children, with seven sisters and three brothers. The Rivard Family set down its roots in Hammond, WI and the branches and offshoots have flourished across many states and an additional three generations since.

Annette proudly served as an Army Veteran in Texas shortly after leaving home. There she began her training as a medical tech and met Bill Sales, to whom she was wed on March 23, 1963. Annette and Bill welcomed their daughter Lisa and soon relocated to Des Moines, IA, where Annette began her career in medicine. She served as an operating room/surgical technician for some ten years at Broadlawns County Hospital. Upon the birth of their son, Will, Annette took a two-year break from employment but was happy to return to work in the O/R at Iowa Lutheran Hospital. In late 1983, Annette joined Dr. Albert Mintzer, M.D. in his Ob/Gyn practice, an office that saw great growth over these past forty years.

Annette was extremely proud to be a part of that group and was treated with great love and respect by all the doctors, nurses, techs, and others who worked there with her. She was also able to advance her education while in their employ and attended night classes to obtain her RN. She continued to receive other certifications and was a proud member of AORN (Association of Operating Room Nurses). Later she also received a distinguished certification of RNFA (Registered Nurse, First Assistant), a station that allowed her to participate in certain advanced tasks during surgeries. In recent years, she reduced her hours to part-time and stuck to assisting with in-office procedures and scheduling surgeries. Her family hounded her about retirement, especially during health struggles, but she loved working and was determined to retire only when she was good and ready.

Annette was the Rock of her immediate family. Strong. Steady. Even-keeled and always capable. Likewise, as to any number of extended family, friends, and co-workers. She never refused a request for help. Her shoulders never sagged under the weight of other people’s problems. And she never expected a favor to be returned. She gave freely of herself. She gave freely of her love. She gave freely of anything she had to share.

Annette raised her children with a no-nonsense approach to parenting. She valued common sense and she taught it as a core principal. She taught by example, demonstrating a dedicated work ethic and proving that any job worth doing was worth doing right. She was also forgiving and knew that there was value in learning from one’s mistakes.

Annette lived life vibrantly. She enjoyed simple things. She was an avid reader. She loved gardening, especially planting and nurturing flowers, and no matter the size of the available plot, she always found room to plant cucumbers. For many years of her life, she loved to be out in the warm summer sun, soaking it up with a book or a watering can in hand. She engaged in various other hobbies over the years: crocheting, quilting, photography, occasional furniture refinishing, and canning.

She was a deeply committed and loyal wife to her husband. Bill was as successful in his career as she was in hers and as the saying goes about great men, Annette was truly the great woman behind him. In their empty nest years, Bill and Annette traveled often and put thousands of miles on Bill’s Harley Trike. They were preparing for retirement when Pancreatic Cancer suddenly took Bill from her in April of 2011. She kept him alive in her heart and though those closest to her knew she suffered deep sadness and terrible pangs of loneliness, few ever saw the evidence of her heartbreak up close. It was far too easy for Annette to turn the tables and to focus her energy on the company of others.

Not long after Bill’s passing, Annette moved into a townhome close to son, Will. She provided endless support to her children and grandchildren. Then in late 2012, Annette suffered a pleural effusion and was hospitalized for some time as doctors chased an elusive diagnosis. Annette was found to have Polydermatomyositis, a troubling and complicated autoimmune disease. She was no longer allowed to soak in the sun without risk of deep muscle aches and cramps or potentially setting off a flare in her immune system. The disease was not easy to manage and Annette experienced a wide variance of highs and lows in her health over the next eleven years.

As she celebrated her 80th birthday just seventeen days before her passing, she was in the midst of suffering some pneumonia-like illness that would not abate. She was hospitalized late on June 27th and while under observation in the hospital suffered an acute myocardial infarction the next day. She was in the cath lab within about an hour and felt immediate relief as blood flow was returned to her right coronary artery, which had been completely blocked. The next two days Annette was awake and alert and happy to greet a few visitors. Her care team and family began to slowly map out the first steps on a potentially long road to recovery and rehabilitation as the underlying lung disease persisted and refused to reveal its root cause. As of Friday night, there were some small improvements, and her family kissed her goodnight with every belief that this would just be another in a long line of obstacles that Annette would overcome. If Annette’s mood were any indicator, the weekend would pass with a steady stream of loving visitors wishing her to Get Well Soon.

Her sudden passing in the early morning hours of July 1st was a shock to all and has left family and friends reeling in disbelief. We know that Annette’s wish would be for us to find comfort in the company of one another and to reflect with joy on the good times and to share stories and laughter in her memory.

Annette is survived by her daughter, Lisa (Jim) Reimers; son, Will (Kendra) Sales; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Annette’s extended family is large and she leaves behind her surviving nine siblings and their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a veritable nation of adoring nieces and nephews. The friends she leaves behind are legion.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her sister, Yvonne Brown.

Services will be as follows:
Family will greet friends on Thursday, July 6, 2023, from 4:00 -7:00 p.m. for visitation at All Saints Catholic Church, 650 NE 52nd Ave., Des Moines, Iowa. Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Friday, July 7, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., also at All Saints.
An inurnment will take place at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, July 8, 2023, at Highland Memory Gardens Cemetery, 1 NE 60th Ave. Military Honors will be rendered at the graveside.

Memorial contributions may be directed to the family in loving memory of Annette to distribute amongst the numerous charities that were dear to her heart.

For those unable to attend in person, services will be live streamed at the link attached.

Online condolences may be expressed at www.HamiltonsFuneralHome.com.

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