Winebrenner, Gertrude ('Trudy')

Gertrude (“Trudy”) Winebrenner, 99

Seven months into her 100th year of life, and just shy of her Centennial birthday, Trudy passed away peacefully Monday, March 18, 2013, in the comfort of her North Liberty home with her family by her side. Visitation will be from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 21, at Lensing's Oak Hill, 210 Holiday Rd., Coralville. Private family services will be held. Committal services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Burge Cemetery in New London.

Condolences may be sent to the family at .

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Iowa City Hospice; www.iowacityhospice.org/donate.

She was born Aug. 12, 1913, in Ishpeming, Mich., the daughter of Etienne Gabriault and Alice Roberts Gabriault. In 1936, she was united in marriage to Howard O. Winebrenner in Fond du Lac, Wis. They were married for 67 years and had three daughters: Diana, Stephanie and Debra.

Trudy had many successes. As a young woman, Trudy attended the University of Wisconsin and worked for many years as a librarian at the Municipal Reference Library of the City of Milwaukee, Wis. After her husband bought a Ford dealership in New London, Iowa, in the 1950s Gertrude served as office manager. In 1967, Howard and Gertrude purchased a Ford dealership in Iowa City, moved there and eventually settled down in North Liberty. Then, in 1990 they purchased what is currently known as Winebrenner Red Carpet Travel in Iowa City, which is still owned and operated by the Winebrenner family.

Also of significance, Trudy was a proud member of the University Club, the University Athletic Club, the Pan American Club, the President's Club, and, along with Howard, was a contributor to the U of I Athletic program.

Her personal passions were playing bridge, reading and spending time with her family.

A loving and beloved daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother, Trudy will be honored and missed by over three generations of family. She will now join her husband Howard (2003) and daughter, Debra (1957) in eternal peace.

“Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality.” ~Emily Dickinson

Trudy is survived by her daughters, Diana Wick Hardy and Stephanie Winebrenner Gomez,(both of North Liberty; and her grandchildren/great-grandchildren/great-great-grandchildren: Steve (Diane) Wick, Fort Madison, Iowa (Katherine), Janet (Rande) Stauffer, Washington, Iowa, (Jaden and Michele Prottsman and Adisyn and Joslyn), Jeff (Martha) Wick, Fairfield, Iowa, (Ashley and Kyle), Rob (Beth) Wick, Iowa City, Iowa (Katie, Jenny, Megan and Alec), Sara Wick, Arlington, Va., Cristina (Luis Enrique) Villegas, Bogota, Colombia (Juan Felipe, Esteban, Santiago), Patricia (Luis Eduardo) Cardenas, Issaquah, Wash., (Nicolas, Tomas, Camila), Miguel (Johana) Gomez Winebrenner, Chicago and Carolina (Corey) Marx, Seattle, Wash. (Lucas and Sofia).

Published in The Gazette March 19, 2013.