Gatch, Golda M. – 1915-2010

GATCH, MILLETT, SMITH, ZELLERS, ZWICKER

Posted By: JCGS Volunteer
Date: 6/14/2010 at 14:42:07

Golda Maurine Gatch, 94, died May 11, 2010, at Nelson Manor in Newton.
A memorial service will be in June, with a date to be determined later.
She was born the daughter of Lee and Ada Millett on Sept. 13, 1915, in rural West Branch , Iowa. She graduated from Springdale High School in 1933. She met her husband, Lyle, while attending William Penn College, and they were married on March 20, 1938.
They lived in Ames from 1941 to 1952 while Lyle worked at Iowa State College on the Manhattan Project. Three of their four children were born in Ames.
In the fall of 1952, the Gatch’s purchased a family resort at Spirit Lake, Iowa. Golda and her family operated the resort every summer until they sold it in 1968.
In 1959 , the family moved to Newton, Iowa, where Lyle taught at the high school until his retirement in 1977. Golda was an active, busy mother. She worked in the school lunch program for several years. During retirement years, Golda and Lyle enjoyed traveling the United States, including Alaska, in their pickup camper. They joined the Des Moines Friendship Force club for overseas travel, making friends in many foreign lands. They also participated in four working mission trips.
Golda was a birthright Quaker, a member of the Jasper County Historical Society, a member of Center Friends Church and a volunteer community worker. In August 2000, she received the Eliza Armstrong Cox Fellowship given in recognition of her active participation in the United Society of Friends Women.
Survivors include two sons, Tom (Donna) Gatch of Sioux City and Tracy Gatch of Newton, and two daughters, Vivian Zellers of Michigan City, Ind., and Virginia (Roger) Zwicker of Arlington, Texas. She has nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. She also is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Smith of Ames, and two brothers, Roscoe (Helen) Millett and Ray (Clara) Millett, both of West Branch.
Memorials may be made to Iowa Hospice, Jasper County Historical Museum and Center Friends Church.
Source: Newton Daily News Thursday, May 13, 2010

Golda M. Gatch, 94, of Newton died May 11, 2010, at Nelson Manor in Newton.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 12, at the Wallace Family Funeral Home in Newton.
Source: Newton Daily News; Thursday, June 10, 2010