WOOD, Anna Lucile

WOOD, BITTER, DELBRIDGE, STELLMACH, HOLUBETZ, PHUMHOFF, BLUM, SPOONER, VANCITTERS, MAHAN

Posted By: Lynette Edsall (email)
Date: 9/2/2008 at 07:47:22

Anna Lucille Wood, 94, of Cherokee entered into eternal rest Sunday, July 27, 2008, at Cherokee Villa Nursing and Rehab Center.

Memorial services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee. Burial will be at a later date in Bigler's Grove Cemetery, Woodbine, Iowa. Visitation with the family will be 1 p.m. until service time Saturday at the funeral home. Condolences may be sent online to www.boothbyfuneral.com.

Anna was born March 29, 1914, in a farm house in Washington Township, Buena Vista County, Iowa, to Fred Christian and LaVina (Bitter) Delbridge. In 1931, she graduated as valedictorian of Providence High School. She attended Buena Vista College and Iowa State Teachers College (now UNI), obtaining a teaching degree in 1933.

She was married to Fred James Wood on Nov. 21, 1936, in Blair, Neb. During the 1933-1934 school year, she was a rural school teacher in Buena Vista County. From 1934 until 1937, she taught grades seven and eight in the town of Minden, Iowa. The couple farmed in Iowa near the towns of Woodbine, Storm Lake and Marathon, Aurelia and Alta. She lived in Cherokee for 15 years before moving to the Cherokee Villa five years ago. She was a farm wife for 52 years and a caregiver for seven years. She then enjoyed eight years of retirement.

She was a member of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She served as president, secretary and treasurer of the church Ladies Aid, Neighborhood Club and Federated Garden Clubs. She organized a girls 4-H club and served as a leader for 10 years. She studied the Scriptures and shared her knowledge with the many students she taught to better understand the Scriptures. She loved sewing and taught the skill to her daughter. She spent many hours gardening and preserving the produce. She also enjoyed quilting and crocheting.

She is survived by her children, Charlotte and Gary Stellmach of Le Mars, Iowa, and Denton, Texas, and Ronald and Dilva Wood of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; granddaughters, Renae Stellmach of Denton, Texas, Annagrazia Wood of Edmonton, Canada, Cynthia Holubetz of Edmonton and Patricia Wood of Edmonton; great-grandson, Sam Holubetz of Edmonton; two sisters, Fern Phumhoff of Phoenix, Ariz., and Hazel Blum of Alta, Iowa; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Lucille Fern Wood; her husband of nearly 59 years, Fred James Wood; her parents; sisters and their husbands, Viola and Ralph Spooner, Mae and A.J. VanCitters and Stella and Paul Mahan; and brothers-in-law, Dallas "Bud" Phumhoff, Johnnie Johnson and Clifford Blum.