Gladys S. Wanek
WANEK, SCHUCHERT
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 8/19/2016 at 14:46:28
Gladys S. Wanek, 84, Coralville, passed from death to life with Christ forever on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at Lantern Park Nursing & Rehab Center in Coralville.
Graveside services will be held in Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City, at 2 p.m. Friday, September 9, which would have been her 85th birthday. All friends and family of Gladys are welcome. Memorials may be directed to Iowa City Hospice.
Gladys S. Wanek was born September 9, 1931, in Johnson County, Iowa, the daughter of George and Mary (Schuchert) Wanek. She graduated from City High School and lived in the Iowa City and Coralville areas all her life. Gladys worked at Oral B Labs for 34 years, retiring in 1994.
Gladys enjoyed making and keeping friends of all ages with a variety of interests and especially enjoyed children and young people whom she encouraged in their education. She had several close friendships with people she had met in Bible camps, churches, and her workplace, and she enjoyed staying in touch through letters and cards.
Gladys loved all animals, especially dogs and birds, and always enjoyed spending time in nature, taking her young nephews to her timber in Iowa County, birdwatching, rock collecting and polishing, and jewelry making. She was active in the Sac & Fox Lapidary Club of Fairfield and enjoyed attending gem and fossil shows every fall.
A close friend of Gladys described her as “a good Christian, always helping others, and fighting for right and goodness in the world.” She corresponded with and supported Christian missionary families; she enjoyed traveling, including a mission trip to Belize and trips to Texas with friends. Gladys had a humorous streak to her and loved to laugh.
For the past eight years Gladys considered Lantern Park as her home and that the residents and staff were like family. She participated in activities as long as her health allowed, including organizing the residents’ library, working on jigsaw puzzles, playing bingo, going on group outings, and spending time with others joking, commiserating, encouraging, and speaking her mind.
On June 2, 2016, when Gladys went into hospice care, she reflected aloud what she wanted to say to her friends and family: “My birthday is September 9, when I will be 85, but I don’t know if I will make it. God has been good to me. You, my friends, have been good to me. You’ve been a blessing. Thank you to all my friends and family and to God for the life I was given.”
Gladys is survived by her brother, Warren (Donna) Wanek, West Branch; three nephews Wendell (Debbie) Wanek, Clarence; Wayne (Pam) Wanek, Andalusia, IL; and Wallace (Mary) Wanek, Iowa City; as well as seven great-nieces and great-nephews and their families including eight great-great nephews and nieces.
She was preceded in death by her parents, an infant sister, Olga, and a great-niece, Samantha Wanek.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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