GAUMER, Alice M. (1943-2022)

GAUMER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/30/2023 at 13:49:14

Alice Mabel Gaumer
(March 27, 1943 - October 4, 2022)

Alice Mabel Gaumer, age 79, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, October 4th at MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center after a two-year battle with cancer.
Alice was born on March 27, 1943, in Spencer, Iowa, to Omer Woolery and Mildred Helen (Wilkie) Woolery. She graduated from Everly High School in 1961. She married Larry David Gaumer on October 13, 1963, and the couple had two children: David Alan Gaumer and Rebecca Dawn (Gaumer) Kolosik.
At age 19, Alice moved to the Des Moines area and worked at Farm Bureau. After marrying Larry and starting their family, she became a stay-at-home mom which led to babysitting for other children in their home. In 1979, Alice began what would become a 35-year career at the Indianola Public Library. During that time, she served patrons in the library, and also started a program where she took books to homebound residents. She also loved Story Time and reading to the children who attended.
Alice had the most loving, giving and compassionate heart for others, and always made weekly visits to friends and residents living in care facilities. After retiring in 2014, she continued to serve in the community, reading at several local preschools, volunteering for Head Start, as well as teaching Chicometrics for Indianola Parks and Rec, and exercise classes at Vintage Hills. She was always focused on her health and fitness -- exercising daily with workouts at home, and loved nothing more than “getting her 10,000+ steps in” walking all about the community. That regular routine helped keep her motivated and strong during her various cancer treatments. Alice deeply loved her family, and especially enjoyed being a grandma to 8 grandchildren: Faith, Daniel, Rachel, MaryAlice, Mark, Rebekah, Brady and Zane. She spent countless evenings and weekends cheering them on at nearly every sporting event, music concert, or other activity they were involved in. She also had 6 great-grandchildren: Serenity, Anaiyah, Jaida, Damon, Iris and Penelope. Most importantly, Alice loved her Lord and Savior. She was active throughout her life in the church, and she and Larry hosted weekly small group bible study in their home. She seldom missed her daily devotions and scripture readings, which became even more important after her cancer diagnosis and progression. She also enjoyed reading, knitting, crocheting and quilting, antiquing with Larry; as well as collecting porcelain dolls, teacups, and salt & pepper shakers. Alice is survived by her husband, Larry; son, David; daughter, Becky (Lyle) Kolosik, as well as many other relatives and friends. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, October 10, 2022, at the First Baptist Church in Indianola, with burial following in the Indianola I.O.O.F. Cemetery. Visitation will be held prior to the service from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the church. [This memorial is provided by Overton Funeral Home, 501 West Ashland Ave., Indianola, Iowa, http://www.overtonfuneral.com/]