Margaret Weiser Wirth

WIRTH, GALLOWAY, GOEWEY, WEISER, HAUPTMANN, HANSEN

Posted By: Tara (email)
Date: 6/26/2009 at 16:30:34

Mrs. Margaret Weiser Wirth, 84, of 701 Oaknoll Drive in Iowa City, died Wednesday January 31, 2007 at Oaknoll Retirement Residence following a brief illness.

Mrs. Wirth, the daughter of Harold W. and Margaret Eager Galloway Goewey, was born on July 7, 1922 in Binghamton, New York. She married Richard B. Weiser on February 12, 1949 in St. Petersburg, FL. She married Henry E. Wirth in Iowa City, IA on October 12, 2000.

She received her B.S. in 1943 in Home Economics from Douglass College in New Brunswick, N.J.; her M.S. in Early Childhood Elementary Education from Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL; her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Illinois in 1966. She taught in the College of Education at the University of Iowa for 24 years and retired in 1993 as Professor Emeritus. She then was Senior Professor for 2.5 years at the Regents Center for Early Education based at U.N.I., and taught six semesters at SEIWA Graduate College in Nishinomiya, Japan, after retirement.

Mrs. Wirth was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Iowa City; was a member of OMEP (World Organization for Early Childhood Education) serving as Regional Vice-President (Canada/USA) for 6 years; a member of Amnesty International, Heifer International, People-to-People, and Delta Kappa Gamma International. She was active at both local and state levels in the United Nations Association. She led international education tours to the U.K., Scandinavia, and the People’s Republic of China. She authored the textbook Infant Toddler Care and Education, published by Merrill & MacMillan, as well as numerous articles in professional journals. Her biography is listed in World Who’s Who of Women, Leaders in Education, Dictionary of International Biographies, Notable Americans, and Who’s Who of American Women.

She is survived by one daughter, Margaret E. Weiser and her husband Meredith Hauptmann of Olney, MD; one son, Robert E. Weiser of Durango, CO; one granddaughter, Heather Marie Weiser; one stepdaughter, Katy Hansen and her husband Peter; and two stepsons, Tom and John Wirth.

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Henry.