Gerda Jess

GERDA JESS Marion Gerda Jess, 92, of Marion, formerly of Stanwood, died Thursday, April 16, 2015, at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids following a heart attack. Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, April 18, at Chapman Funeral Home in Clarence, with Pastor Barb Krueger officiating. Burial will follow at the Stanwood Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until service time. Gerda Ida Anna Boeck was born Aug. 22, 1922, oldest child of Karl and Anna (Krahn) Boeck, in an area of Germany that became Poland after World War II. She was confirmed in the Lutheran church and finished eighth grade at the age of 14. Following this she worked as a field laborer with her parents to help support the family. She was small, but did man's work. At the end of World War II, she fled her home as the Russians advanced into Germany, arrived in Schleswig Holstein in 1945, and found work with the Jess family. Subsequently she met and married Henry Jess on Sept. 6, 1946. By 1955, they immigrated to the United States with three children and much determination. They worked hard their whole lives doing whatever it took to make a better life for their kids and were also very proud to be American citizens. She is survived by her children, Karl (Lois) Jess of Morley, Hilda (Carl) Machula of Marion and Hans (Lynn) Jess of Olin; grandchildren, Heidi Jess (Mike Buser), Lori Jess (Tom Nichols), Christopher (Betsy) Jess, Rachel (Russell) Von Behren and Lisa (Tim) Lansing; 11 grandchildren; and two sisters, Frida Widenhaupt and Anna Marie Zahn of Germany. Gerda was preceded in death by her parents; her husband in 1980; an infant daughter, Anna Greta; an infant great-granddaughter; and a sister, Lieselotte. Gerda was a gifted and charitable Christian woman who never lost her faith through difficult times in her life.