Balmer, Gladys (Smith) 1918-2005

BALMER, SMITH, CARSON, SCHNEIDERWENT

Posted By: volunteer (email)
Date: 6/29/2005 at 16:04:00

Gladys Balmer, 87, of Newton, formerly of Colfax, died Sunday, June 26, 2005, at her home in Newton Village.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Pence-Reese Funeral Home in Newton. Burial will be at Silent City Cemetery in Monroe.

Friends may call after 3 p.m. today at the funeral home, where the family will be available from 6 to 8 p.m. Memorials will be accepted to the American Cancer Society.

The daughter of Ralph William Smith and Ellen Carson, she was born March 14, 1918, in Jasper County. She attended rural school and was a graduate of Newton Senior High School Class of 1936. On July 1, 1945, she married Carroll Roger Balmer at the First Presbyterian Church in Newton. She was a homemaker and helped her husband on the farm.

Mrs. Balmer enjoyed crocheting, embroidery, reading, traveling with bank bus trips and growing flowers, especially iris. She was a past member of Sugar Grove Grange, where she had met her husband. She grew up in Sherman Township, lived in rural Colfax and moved to Newton two months ago.

Survivors include two sons, Roger Balmer of Roland and Gary (Jolene) Balmer of DeWitt; a daughter, Diane (Craig) Schneiderwent of Madison, Wis.; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Leland Smith of Newton; a sister-in-law, Marge Smith of Winona, Wis.; and special friends, Tuck and Cathy Engle and family.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; brothers, Dale and Hugh; a sister, Mary; and a daughter-in-law, Sandra.

Newton (IA) Daily News, Tuesday, June 28, 2005