Travis Francis Bouska, 36

Travis Francis Bouska, age 36 of Iowa City and formerly of New Hampton, died Friday, June 19, 2020, at his home.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 24, 2020, at Holy Family Parish, New Hampton with the Rev. Brian Dellaert celebrating the Mass.
Interment will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, New Hampton.
Friends may greet the family from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 23, 2020, at the Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home & Crematory in New Hampton where there will be a 7 p.m. Parish Scripture Service. Visitation continues an hour prior to the Mass at the church on Wednesday. Online condolences for the Bouska family may be left at hugebackfuneralhome.com.
Travis was born April 7, 1984, in New Hampton. He was the “middle child” among the three sons born to Gary and Sue (Rosonke) Bouska, and even at a young age, he was the kind of guy you didn’t forget meeting.
He attended school in New Hampton, and early in his life, he found his passion. It was music. He eventually began singing at Masses, funerals, weddings and other gatherings, but then again, Travis was one of those kids who could sing along to any song on the radio. He loved being in the plays and musicals — both in middle school and high school — and one of his favorite roles was when he played the Tin Man in New Hampton High School’s “Wizard of Oz.”
Travis was a member of the Class of 2002, and after graduating, he attended Hamilton College and earned a degree in criminal justice.
As a high school student, he worked for what is now Hugeback-Johnson Funeral Home, first doing yard work and other odd jobs. It was at the funeral home that he found his true calling because Travis, at his core, was a kind, compassionate young man who helped numerous families through very trying times after graduating with a mortuary science degree from Worsham College of Mortuary Science in suburban Chicago.
He worked at funeral homes in New Hampton, Parkersburg and Iowa City — with a short stint at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He was the kind of funeral director who had that knack of knowing just what a family was going through after the death of a loved one. He could celebrate a long, well-lived life with a family one day and help another family through an unexpected and tragic death the next.
As an adult, he loved to sing, and he did a lot of karaoke. He loved his family and friends, and he was a great uncle to his nephew and niece, and he was a joy to have at family gatherings. The Bouskas and Rosonkes will tell you that Travis had a great sense of humor, a quick wit and the ability to come up with great one-lines and funny, quick comebacks in a moment’s notice.
The world was a better place with Travis in it. His cheerful outlook on life and his compassion for his family, friends and the families he served will be greatly missed.
Survivors include his parents, Gary and Sue Bouska; his grandmother, LaVonne Rosonke; brothers, Jeremy (Danielle Tiemessen) Bouska and son Alex, and Kyle (Jocelyn) Bouska and daughter, McKaia, all of New Hampton; aunts; Sandy (Ken) Long of Rochester, Minnesota, Jean (Ron) Franzen of Ft. Atkinson, Ann (John) Wunder of Muscatine, and Denise (Jim) Ryant of Ridgeway; uncles, Tom (Paula) Rosonke, Dan (Karen) Rosonke, and Joe (Jean) Rosonke, all of New Hampton, Duane (Marilyn) Franzen of Denver, Alan (Jan) Bouska of Mason City, David (Sue) Bouska of Cedar Rapids, and Paul (Amy) Bouska of Iowa City; and many cousins and friends.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Cliff and Arlene Bouska; maternal grandfather, Francis Rosonke; aunt, Joan Franzen and cousin, Blake Rosonke.