Jeanette Hemphill, 1932 – 2011

HEMPHILL, FRANKE, ERZINGER, VERMACE, LANGFORD, BINNEY, OLSON

Posted By: Sandy Ficken (email)
Date: 4/6/2011 at 16:42:56

Funeral services for Jeanette Hemphill, 78, Amana, were held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 30, at the Middle Amana Community Church. She died Sunday, March 27, 2011, at Colonial Manor of Amana.

Church elder Mike Shoup officiated at the service.

Burial was in the Amana Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the Amana Church Society, the Amana Library or the Amana Arts Guild.

Kloster Funeral Home, Marengo, was in charge of arrangements. Online condolences may be left at www.klosterfuneralhome.com.

Jeanette Hemphill was born Sept. 17, 1932, in Amana, the daughter of William and Elizabeth Erzinger Franke. She graduated as valedictorian of her class at Amana High School in 1950. She earned her bachelor of arts degree at the University of Denver in 1953 and her master of arts degree at the University of Denver in 1956. She met her husband, William E. Hemphill, at the University of Denver and they were married Aug. 11, 1956, in Denver, Colo.

Before entering graduate school, she worked in the reference department of the Denver Public Library, which prompted her to get her master’s degree in library and informational services.

After graduation, she accepted a position with the University of Colorado Denver campus where she served in various capacities from 1956 to 2001, first as head librarian of the CU Denver Library and finally as the associate director of the Auraria Library.

In 1996, she received an award for exemplary service in libraries, and in 2003, she was awarded the University of Colorado medal for outstanding service to the University and the state of Colorado.

After her husband’s death in 2000, she sold their house in Westminster, Colo., and moved back to her ancestral home in Amana. She grew up and was confirmed at the Amana Church, which she rejoined after the move. Since her return to Iowa, she was active in a number of volunteer activities for the Amana Church, the Amana Arts Guild, the Heritage Agency on Aging, as a hospice volunteer and trained for the Stephen’s Ministry.

Hemphill is survived by one son, Tristan, Denver; one daughter, Joanna Vermace, Amana; three grandchildren, Elizabeth Langford, Elijah Binney and Riva Vermace, and one 2-year-old great-grandson, Canan Olson.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her parents and one brother, Duane.

The Williamsburg Journal Tribune, Williamsburg, Iowa, 07 Apr 2011, pg 3