GNAGY, Grace (nee Holmes) 1908-2002

GNAGY, HOLMES, LA FORCE

Posted By: County Coordinator
Date: 1/24/2009 at 18:34:47

Grace Gnagy, age 93, a long time Charles City resident, died January 16, 2002, at the 9 th St. Chautauqua Guest Home. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday, April 27, 2002, at Fullerton Hage Funeral Home, 401 Blunt St., and Charles City. Pastor Greg Lugn will be officiating. Interment will be in Riverside Cemetery in Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa.

Grace Ethel (Holmes) Gnagy was born on August 1, 1908, in Oskaloosa. She was the daughter of Charles and Flora (La Force) Holmes. Upon graduation in 1926 from Oskaloosa High School, she attended William Penn College (University) in Oskaloosa, graduating in 1930 with a major in home economics and physical education. She married Lloyd Gnagy on April 11, 1941.

Grace will be remembered as a delightful lady of many talents. She was among the first "Super Moms" balancing career and family. Grace was devoted to her family, friends, and students. Over her many years in education in the Iowa communities of Woodward, Crawfordsville, Clinton, and Charles City, she was a positive influence on the lives of countless young people. She has been blessed to have several of those former students as caregivers in her last years. In her home economics (family and consumer education) classes she taught countless young girls sewing, knitting, and food preparation. One of her fondest teaching memories was the participation of her 1935 Woodward girls' basketball team in the Iowa Girls' State Tournament. Her children and grandchildren will remember her gentle caring, her delicious meals (especially her blueberry pie, chocolate chip cookies, and potato salad) and her beautiful hand knitted sweaters. Grace loved flowers and each spring and summer her porch and yard were ablaze with geraniums, lilies of the valley, and tulips. She was a member of the Charles City Education Association, the Iowa State Education Association, and the First Christian Church.

Grace is survived by her children: Kay (Anthony) Briski of Janesville, Wis., Gary (Linda) Gnagy of Sunrise Beach, Mo., Linda Keller of Pasadena, Calif.; her grandchildren, Jay Briski of Chicago, Ill., Gretchen (Robert) Forrester of Appleton, Wis., Brad Gnagy of Omaha, Neb., and her great-granddaughter, Olivia Forrester. She is also survived by her sister, Mrs. Mildred Knox, and her niece, Mrs. Martha Knox of Oskaloosa.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Lloyd, on December 28, 1999, her parents, two sisters, a brother, and a nephew.