Verla Geneva Gunderson 1919-2001

NELSON, GUNDERSON, KOZELKA

Posted By: Mary Durr (email)
Date: 3/14/2010 at 16:12:34

Funeral services for Verla Gunderson were held Friday, January 26, 2001, in the East Clermont Lutheran Church, rural Clermont, Iowa. The Rev. Helen Beth Kuhens officiated. Casket bearers were Arthur, Clarence and Roger Amundson, Oliver Larson, Paul Manson and Quinton Olson. The Schutte Funeral and Cremation Service of Clermont was in charge of arrangements. Burial was in the church cemetery.

Verla Geneva Gunderson, the daughter of Edwin G. and Emma Annette (Nelson) Gunderson, was born October 27, 1919, on a farm in Fayette County, north of Clermont, Iowa. She passed away Tuesday, January 23, 2001, in the Good Samaritan Center at West Union, Iowa. She had reached the age of 81 years, three months and 26 days.

She graduated from the Clermont High School and attended one year at Iowa State Teacher's College (UNI) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Verla was baptized into the Lutheran faith and was confirmed in the West Clermont Lutheran Church in 1934 by the Rev. Gustav Gunsten.

Verla had been employed at Falb Motor Company in Postville, worked in the Farmers Savings Bank in Clermont for eight years, and also for Dr. Jerdee, whose office was located above the bank. She had been employed at the Equitable Life Assurance Society in Cedar Rapids and then as an executive secretary at St. Luke's Hospital, retiring in 1984 after 22 years of service. In 1994 she became a resident of an assisted living care center in Cedar Rapids. Verla became a resident of the Good Samaritan Center in West Union on August 3, 2000

Verla had started taking piano lessons from Mrs. Jorgenson when she was nine. She was the organist at the East Clermont Lutheran Church for a number of years and played for many weddings, as well as the regular services. She loved music and while a resident at the care center in Cedar Rapids, Verla often played for her friends. She also enjoyed playing bridge.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Edwin and Emma, a brother, Merril Georgie Gunderson, who died at the age of two, and a brother-in-law, Edward Kozelka.

Surviving is a sister, Beulah Kozelka, of Postville, Iowa, a brother Merril (Lorraine) Gunderson of West Union, Iowa, three nieces, Carol Ann Fromong of West Union, Gail (Larry) Larson of Olympia, Washington, and Joan (Paul) Manson of Guttenberg, Iowa, two great nieces, three great nephews, and many cousins and friends.

She was a member of First Lutheran Church in Cedar Rapids and was in the process of moving her membership to the East Clermont Lutheran Church. Verla was a member of the Sons of Norway and enjoyed their many activities.

Postville, Iowa newspaper of the time clipping from my mother's obituary collection.
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