ERWIN, Marcella L.

ERWIN, WYKOFF, GATES

Posted By: Nancy (email)
Date: 9/28/2004 at 13:37:49

January 8, 2004 The Wapello Republican. Accompanied by a photo. I am not related and have no further information.

Marcella L. Erwin

Marcella Lorraine Erwin, age 92, of rural Wapello (Iowa), died Tuesday morning, December 30, 2003, following a brief illness at her home. The daughter of Seth Everett and Johanna Edith Wykoff Gates, she was born June 28, 1911, at Oakville (Iowa). She married Samuel Robert Erwin on May 13, 1933, at Kahoka, Missouri.

She graduated from Oakville High School in 1928, then Western Illinois Teacher College in 1932, with degrees in Math and Latin. After her marriage, the couple farmed East of Wapello (Iowa). Later in her life she moved to Wapello, owned and operated the Dairy Bar, both in Wapello and Mediapolis(Iowa), and later the Hiway Pantry in Wapello. Then for more than twenty-five years she was the Louisa County Head Start Coordinator until retiring at the age of 86. In her retirement years she lived in her cottage near her daughter Martha’s home.

She was an avid reader and enjoyed her friends and family.

She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Wapello (Iowa), the former Order of Eastern Star Chapter 257 in Wapello and currently the Emma Beckman Chapter 445 of the Order of Eastern Star at Columbus City (Iowa), the Wapello Study Club, and Chapter ET.P.E.O. in Wapello.

Those who are left to honor her memory include two daughters, Martha Lorraine and Robert Hawk, rural Wapello (Iowa) and Mary Edith and Larry Boysen, rural Wapello; six grandchildren, Aaron and Bambi Boysen, Duane and Jodi Boysen, Adam Boysen, Kedra and Jeffrey Kroeger and Jenna Hawk, all living locally, and Justin Hawk of Forrest Ranch, California; twelve great-grandchildren, Adair Bay, Larame, Tate, Kale, Koby, Kabe and Sydney Boysen, and Emma, Seth, Ben, and Megan Kroeger.

She was preceded in death by her parents and two sisters, Lillian Charbonneaux and Euvista Masterson.

The funeral service was held Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church in Wapello (Iowa), with the Rev. Mary N. Pugh officiating. Burial followed at Edwards Cemetery, Oakville (Iowa).

The family met with friends Friday evening at the Dudgeon-McCulley Funeral Home in Wapello (Iowa).

A memorial fund has been established.