Yolanda Dolores Cufr

Yolanda Dolores Cufr (Arellanes) born May 13, 1944, to Louis Arellanes and Dora (Machuca) Arellanes at Los Angeles General Hospital in Los Angeles, California passed at 0236 on December 26, 2025, at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center, Des Moines, Iowa. Yolanda was married to and survived by her husband, Ronnie Cufr, June 14, 1980, whom she married at the Pearl Harbor Chapel, Pearl Harbor Naval Station, Honolulu, Hawaii, and their son, Jorim Nahshon Cufr, born June 26, 1982, at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. She and her family lived in Waterloo, Iowa for 31 years. The most important relationship in her life is her New Birth in CHRIST JESUS to become a Child of GOD when she was young. She and her husband and sons all desired that everyone they meet might come to know the glorious GRACE of their Savior JESUS CHRIST. In Yolanda’s work life, she worked as a jeweler’s assistant in Honolulu, Hawaii where she developed a great love for quality jade. She also worked for a short time at The Gap and then Hickory Farms in San Diego. She worked closely with the Registrar of Voters in 3 California counties: Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties. In her capacity for those c...[more]

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counties, she was an invaluable member of their voting preparation teams. She worked in that capacity for about 8 years between the 3 counties. When we moved to Iowa, she was almost immediately hired by the Waterloo Public School District as a Teacher Assistant at Elk Run Elementary’s ESL program, where she was highly regarded for her ability to fluently speak Spanish and work with her great Love with the children. Eventually, there were children from Bosnia and other countries in her classes as well and every child received the special love of Christ JESUS through her. She worked for the WPS for 10 years until she retired in 2004. Yolanda also developed her own highly regarded culinary skills learning and fine tuning her exquisite cooking abilities. She learned and cooked many cuisines: Mexican (which she was already expert in), Japanese, Korean, Filipino and Hawaiian. She loved her cooking and ministering to the needs of others. Yolanda had a special place in her heart to meet the emotional needs of single, divorced and widowed women who were lonely at the special seasons of the year, especially Christmas, Easter, and the 4 th of July. But her generosity and GRACE were not merely kept to those days, Yolanda’s Love was always freely expressed to any and all who entered her sphere. Whether it was delivering warm meals to many in need during the COVID era, cooking meals for families who were struggling, inviting strangers into her home who had come to church for the fist time, the LOVE and GRACE of JESUS CHRIST were always hallmarks of my Beautiful Chickie’s life. She is also survived by her eldest son’s four children and four great-grandchildren. Yolanda was preceded in death by: her parents and her six siblings, her first-born son, Manuel Christopher Dominguez of liver cancer in 2013, her eldest grandson, Manuel Charleston Dominguez, in Hawaii, 2018, and Siniva Gaopoa, Christopher’s wife, Hawaii in 2020. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Yolanda Cufr Life Fund either by check or directly to the fund at https://www.givesendgo.com/YolandaCufrLifeFund