Fern C Simmon Willman 1905-2007

WILLMAN, CRUZAN, SIMMON

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 5/24/2008 at 04:51:03

Sioux City Journal
20 July 2007

Fern Charity Simmon Willman
RODNEY, Iowa -- Fern Charity Simmon Willman, 102, longtime Rodney and Oto, Iowa, resident, passed away Wednesday, July 18, 2007, at Elmwood Care Center in Onawa, Iowa.

Services will be 2 p.m. Saturday at Rodney United Church of Christ in Rodney, Iowa, with Pastor Karen Handke officiating. Burial will be in Little Sioux Township Cemetery at Smithland, Iowa. Visitation will be 11 a.m. to service time Saturday at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa.

Fern was born June 8, 1905, in rural Oto, Iowa, to Henry Peter and Ida Grace (Cruzan) Simmon. She was raised in Grant Township and attended Peiro Bethel Methodist Church in rural Anthon, Iowa. In her early life, she participated in 4-H Club, distinguished as a member of the Iowa State Champion Team in 1920. She graduated from Oto High School in 1924 and later attended Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa.

A career educator, Fern taught in several Woodbury County Schools, Grant Township (1925-1932, 1934-1937, 1940-1950), Miller Township (1933-1935), Hickory Grove Independent Schools (1938-1940), Oto Independent Schools (1950-1960), and Anthon-Oto Community Schools (1960-1971).

She was married to Delmer John Willman on Nov. 25, 1955, in rural Anthon, Iowa. Fern lived in Oto and Rodney as an adult and attended the United Churches of Christ in those communities. She was a member of the Queen Esther Chapter 222 of the O.E.S. in Onawa, Iowa, and the Leslie F. Seaton American Legion Auxiliary Post 666 at Smithland, Iowa. She was a life member of the Iowa State Education Association. She enjoyed painting, gardening, reading and playing the organ.

Fern moved to the Pleasant View Care Center in Whiting in 1997, where she was honored as an inductee to the State of Iowa's Century Club in 2005. She moved to the Elmwood Care Center in Onawa in September of 2006.

She is survived by a niece, Louise Simmon Wehde of Omaha, Neb.; two nephews, Larry Simmon of Springfield, Mo., and Robert Simmon of Green Valley, Ariz.; six great nieces and nephews and their families. Through marriage, she had three grandchildren, Scott Willman of Granville, Iowa, Derrick Willman of Chicago, Ill.; Robin Willman Enerson of Gruver, Iowa; and 11 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a stepson, Waldron Willman; two sisters, Ruth Simmon and Faith Simmon; a brother, Henry L. Simmon; and a sister-in-law Lucille Coon.