Georgene (Morrison) Shank (-2016)

SHANK, MORRISON, MCNETT, CASSTEVENS, CLAUTLER, HILL

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 10/3/2016 at 08:09:26

Obituary from The Des Moines Register, Des Moines, Iowa.

Georgene Shank, 90, died peacefully on September 20 at Northcrest Retirement Community after a long illness. Born in and Buffalo, New York, to George H. and Eugenie McNett Morrison, she was raised there and then earned a B.S. in library science and education at State University of New York at Geneseo. She went to the San Francisco Bay Area with the Veterans Administration as a medical librarian. There in 1949, she married Wesley Shank and had three children. When the family came to Ames in 1964, she worked as a school librarian and teacher and earned a M.A. in English at Drake University. Later she worked for the Y.W.C.A., owned and operated a small business, and served on the Ames City Plan Commission. Elected to the Ames City Council she served several terms as representative-at-large. She was active in the League of Woman Voters and the American Association of University Women and played bridge avidly.

She is survived by her husband; her daughter Jennifer Casstevens in Muscatine, her son Matthew Shank in Sacramento, and their respective spouses David Casstevens and Florence Clautier. Also in Muscatine are her granddaughters Jessica (Jeremy) Hill and Amanda Casstevens, and three great-grandchildren. In Denver is her grandson James Casstevens. Also in Sacramento are her grandchildren Michelle (Shank) Douglas and Jonathan Shank, and one great grandchild. Her younger son, Edmund Shank, died in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in 2000.

The family will host a Memorial open house at Northcrest Retirement Community, 1801 20th St., on Wednesday, Sept. 28, from 2 to 4 P.M. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Israel Family Hospice House, 400 S. Dakota Ave., Ames 50014, or to Ames Public Library Friends Foundation, P.O. Box 1832, Ames 50010.
Published in Des Moines Register on Sept. 25, 2016