Alta Jane (Palmer) Wiley 1898-2006

JOHANSEN, PALMER, WILEY, HUGH

Posted By: Volunteer
Date: 11/18/2006 at 20:46:26

Alta Jane Wiley

Alta Jane Wiley, 108, of West Union, passed away Thursday, September 28, 2006 at Maple Crest Manor in Fayette. Funeral services were held Monday, October 2, 2006 at Holy Name Catholic Church in West Union. Burnham-Wood Funeral Home assisted the family with arrangements.

Rev. Dale Rausch officiated the funeral service, with Sue McDonough providing the organ music. Alta's grandsons honored their grandmother by being casketbearers. She was buried in Mt. Calvary Cemetery in West Union.

Alta Jane (Palmer) Wiley, daughter of Alden and Christine (Johansen) Palmer, was born April 23, 1898 in Auburn Township, Fayette County near West Union. She attended country school until 1910, then entered West Union Public School and graduated from West Union High School in 1917.

After graduation she attended Iowa State Teacher's College and studied through the war years and the terrible flu epidemic of 1918. She then taught in country schools near Sumner, Tripoli, Readlyn and West Union.

June 4, 1924 Alta was united in marriage to Frank Wiley, and four children were born to this union. They moved to the Wiley farm southwest of West Union, where she lived until 1988 when she moved to an apartment in town. She was a member of Holy Name Catholic Church and very active in its women's groups, serving as President of the Rosary Society and also as Grand Regent of the Catholic Daughters of America. She was also a long time member of Farm Bureau and enjoyed cooking, sewing, gardening and attending her social club activities.

Although her eyesight and body failed her in later years, her mind was sharp and she continued an intense interest in the news of the day and her surroundings. Having lived in three centuries as a country school teacher and farm wife, she had memorized many poems and would recite them to those who visited.

Alta was preceded in death by her husband Frank in 1964; her son Michael in 2004; a grandson; her parents; and two brothers, Carl and John.

Those left to cherish her memory are her two daughters, Josephine Hugh of Bellevue, WA and Mayta Wiley of Auburn, WA; her son Dr. Alden and his wife Donna Wiley of Lansing; her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Wiley of Strawberry Point; fifteen grandchildren; thirty great grandchildren; one great-great grandson and her sister Eva Palmer of West Union.

Waukon Standard, October 11, 2006