LeDonna Joy Gommels
GOMMELS, KNACK, SPLITTGERBER, KNOPP, HORNOR, KROGSTAD
Posted By: Sarah Fletcher (email)
Date: 7/29/2020 at 11:53:42
LeDonna Joy Gommels, 81, of Iowa City passed away suddenly on July 22, 2020 at Mercy Hospital from complications of a heart attack.
Funeral services will be held Friday, July 31, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. at Lensing Funeral and Cremation Service, 605 Kirkwood Avenue, Iowa City, where visitation will be held prior to the service from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. Please respect social distancing guidelines. Burial will be in Varina, Iowa at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Camp Courageous.
LeDonna was born on September 22, 1938 in Storm Lake, Iowa to Chris and Esther (Splittgerber) Knack. Though she was an only child, she considered her cousins Eldona and Lynn to be more like siblings than anything else. LeDonna graduated from Fonda High School in Fonda, Iowa before attending Morningside College in Sioux City, where she graduated with her associate’s degree. She later received her bachelor’s degree in Education from Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa. She then went on to teach at elementary schools in Alta, Humboldt, Cedar Falls and East Buchanan.
LeDonna met the love of her life, James “Jim” Gommels while in high school. After years of dating, the couple got married on June 5, 1960 in Varina, Iowa. LeDonna and Jim enjoyed 60 memorable years of marriage and together they raised their only daughter, Michelle. They settled in Iowa City in 1967, where she became an active member in the community. LeDonna was not only dedicated to her role as a wife, mother, and grandmother but also as an elementary school teacher at Herbert Hoover Elementary School in Iowa City and Penn Elementary School in North Liberty. She retired in 1998 after a 39-year career as a generous, kind-hearted, and passionate teacher.
If you knew LeDonna you knew that there was always something to and she continued to stay busy even after retiring. When completing a task from her to do lists, she would just add a new task. Her creativity made learning fun for her students and time away from work was spent preparing lessons or fun activities for her students. The only thing LeDonna loved more than life was her family and time spent with them brought her so much joy.
She was a member of the Iowa City Education Association, Iowa State Education Association, National Education Association, Iowa Retired Teacher Association, The University Club and was treasurer for The Questers. She was also a longtime member of St. Mark’s Methodist Church in Iowa City.
Survivors include her husband Jim of Iowa City, IA; daughter Michelle (Joe) Knopp of Batavia, IL; grandson Corey Knopp of Batavia, IL; sister-like cousin Eldona (Duane) Hornor of Albert City, IA, and brother-like cousin Lynn Krogstad of Newell, IA.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service
Johnson Obituaries maintained by Cindy Booth Maher.
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