Leota Marie (Smith) GERDES

GERDES, BREWER, SMITH, THOMPSON, THEIN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 5/15/2016 at 18:17:10

July 23, 1919 ---- February 4, 2016

GARNER, Iowa - Leota M. Gerdes, 96, of Garner, formerly of Woden, died Thursday, Feb. 4, at the Hancock County Memorial Hospital in Britt. Funeral services were at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 9, at St. John's Lutheran Church in Woden with Rev. S. Kim Peterson officiating. Burial was in Bingham Township Cemetery in Woden. Visitation was 5-7 p.m. Monday at Cataldo Funeral Home in Woden and resumed one hour prior to services at the church.

Leota Marie Gerdes, the daughter of Samuel and Emma (Brewer) Smith, was born July 23, 1919, in Dows. At an early age she moved with her family to Preston, South Dakota, Garner, Ventura and Woden where she graduated from high school in 1937. On Aug. 30, 1939, she was married to Freddie Gerdes in Mason City. They lived in Woden until August of 1996 when they moved to Prairie View Apartments in Garner. Leota worked as a secretary at the Woden-Crystal Lake Elementary School in Woden for twenty-four years. She enjoyed her family, cooking, flowers, embroidering, reading, watching sports, church work and was an avid Iowa Hawkeye fan.

She was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Garner and former member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Woden where she sang in the choir, taught Sunday school and belonged to WELCA. She also was a member of the Woden American Legion Auxiliary, Woden Library Board and served as treasurer of the Woden City Council.

Leota is survived by her two children, Janelle (Duane) Thompson of Northwood and Denise (Gerry) Thein of Okoboji; nine grandchildren; many great-grandchildren; and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Freddie, Jan. 10, 1999; son, Duane Gerdes, Sept. 22, 2015; daughter-in-law, Lois Gerdes; and three brothers, Ervin, Lester and Lyle Smith.

Britt News Tribune -- Britt, Iowa
February 10, 2016