Gossman, Lila M. (1931-2014)

GOSSMAN, ARNDT, FRYBARGER, NEILON, PENNING, KEMMERER, ROBERTS

Posted By: Paul Nagy (email)
Date: 5/10/2014 at 14:51:07

Lila M. Gossman
September 19, 1931 - April 24, 2014

Lila M. Gossman, 82, peacefully passed away on Thursday, April 24, 2014, surrounded by her family at the Muse Norris Hospice Inpatient Unit in Mason City.

The eldest child of Glen Edward and Verna Marie Frybarger Arndt, Lila Marie was born on September 19, 1931, in Guckeen, Minnesota. In quick succession, four brothers (one dying in infancy) followed and one sister eleven years later. During the hard economic times of the 1930s, she spent most of her years in Blue Earth where her father worked periodically for the city or at a lumber mill. Because her mother developed TB, Lila, at age of eleven, had to fetch water, cook, and tend to her younger siblings. Despite all these hardships, Lila still did very well in school, graduating from Blue Earth High School in 1949. Not long after that, her three brothers left for three branches of the military. One just did not come home one day after school. She lost her mother in 1956 and her father in 1959. She, then, cared for her younger sister, Dorothy, until she completed high school, at which time Dorothy left for California with the rest of her immediate family.

Lila met Duane Gossman at the roller skating rink in Blue Earth. Following that chance meeting, she took a job as a waitress in Thompson. On June 7th, 1950, she married Duane in the rectory of St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Buffalo Center. For three years, they lived as sharecroppers with Duane's parents on the family farm. During this time, Lila gave birth to Duane Kenneth, Jr., (Bud) and Bridget Ann. They, then, moved across the section to a vacant farm house for a few more years where Diane Marie was born. After Duane's parents moved to town, they returned to the farm where Lila had Linda Sue and Kent Michael.

The farm was in full operation with two barns, milk cows, hogs, beef cattle, horses, 400 chickens, a large garden, and a busy bunch of children. During the summers, cousins and other relatives from California would send their children to enjoy the farm experience and perhaps do some work. Of course, Lila would have another mouth to feed. With all those responsibilities and five children at home, Lila chose to provide more opportunities for her children. So, in 1968, she took a job from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. at the Timely Mission Nursing Home. Later, she moved to the afternoon shift, a position she held for forty-four years, retiring in January, 2012, at age 80. Since the age of 11, Lila had spent her entire life caring for others. At Timely Mission, she became very attached to the residents. She cared for some for decades with only limited contact from their own families. Moreover, the nursing home depended on her to teach the young CNA's how to properly care for and respect the people they served. Typically, she attended many funerals every year.

Lila also found interests outside the demands of the farm. She dabbled with golf, joined the bowling league and community circle, and became a member of the Bethany Lutheran Church in Thompson. Very sentimental, she collected little items as keepsakes, a locket of hair, a postcard from Grandma, letters of love, a necklace from a trip, all the letters her son wrote from the service, anything to help her cherish her good memories of those experiences. All were delicately preserved. She loved to surround herself with the color purple. She had an old electric typewriter that she used to send letters to her family and friends. She faithfully sent all her grandchildren savings bonds every year for their birthdays. She never missed an occasion to send a card with a written note or a typed letter enclosed to her immediate and extended families.

Lila moved into Buffalo Center in 1991 and purchased a home located close to her work. In addition to her children, she thoroughly enjoyed entertaining other family members and friends that frequented her home. She had many friends and a large extended family of thirty-seven cousins. She loved to cook and had a gift for making dishes from scratch or turning left-overs into tasty meals. She collected dolls, an experience she had missed as a child. She took up crafts; she took on a second job in her 70s as a waitress; and she took over the care for her mother's sister, Alice, who is 98 and still lives at the nursing home. She so loved her grandkids calling on or coming over to see her. In addition, she loved birthday get-togethers, reunions, her weekend trips with her daughters shopping, and the vacations they took her on to Mexico and the Caribbean.

The cancer that took Lila had a very quick onset and duration. She had so little time to enjoy her retirement. She had just started living her new life with her new dog, Buddy.

Lila is survived by three daughters and one son, Bridget Neilon (Jerry Hanson), of Northwood, Diane Penning, of Rochester, Linda (Mark) Kemmerer, of Clear Lake, and Kent (Cheryl Beck), of Renton, Washington; one sister, Dorothy, of San Jose, California; and her aunt, Alice Smith, of Buffalo Center; as well as by eleven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by one son, Duane, Jr., (Bud); one grandson, Jarrett Roberts; four brothers, Gene, Don, James, and Eugene; and her parents.

Memorial Services will be held at 10:00 A.M., Tuesday, April 29, 2014, at Bethany Lutheran Church, 183 2nd Avenue East, Thompson, Iowa, with Pastor Lynn Noel officiating. A gathering of friends and family will be held between 4:00 and 7:00 P.M., Monday, April 28, 2014, at the Petersen Lund Funeral Home, 505 North Clark Street, Forest City. Inurnment of cremains will take place in the Graceland Cemetery, Buffalo Center, Iowa. Memorials may be directed to Hospice of North Iowa or a charity of the donor's choice.

Copyright © 2014, Petersen Lund Funeral Home

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