Gladys Fisher

GLADYS FISHER

Kalona

Gladys Kathleen Fisher, 87, passed away June 1, 2016, at Pleasantview Home in Kalona.

Gladys was born Feb. 10, 1929, in rural Kalona, Johnson County, Iowa, to Lewis and Barbara (Miller) Bender. She married Robert Wayne Fisher on May 31, 1951, at East Union Mennonite Church, Kalona.

Gladys lived in the Kalona/Wellman area for nearly all her life. She spent two years in La Junta, Colo., as an LPN when her husband, Robert, was in voluntary service.

Gladys graduated from the 12th grade at Hesston Academy, Hesston, Kan.; attended teachers college in Cedar Falls, obtaining her teaching certificate, and later, Goshen College to recertify for teaching. She taught in rural elementary schools for 5 1/2 years.

After teaching, she was a homemaker and did domestic labor.

Gladys was a member of Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church, teaching Sunday school, and was an active member in WMSC. She also was a member of Optimists, Farm Bureau and past chairperson for Johnson County Farm Bureau Ladies.

She is survived by her children, Marvin (Vicki), Wichita, Kan., Grace Tully (Jim), Iowa City, Sara Brown (Glenn), Iowa City, Peggy Haines (John), Iowa City, Ralph (Cindy), Wellman, and Mary Anderson, Hiawatha; plus eight grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; two sisters, Mary Miller, Glendale, Ariz., and Vera Yoder, Wellman; and brother, Daniel Bender, Harrisonburg, Va.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert; both her parents; sister, Nina; brothers, Clarence and Paul; and infant son.

Funeral services will be 10 a.m. Monday, June 6, at Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church, rural Kalona. The Rev. Don Patterson will officiate. Burial will be in East Union Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Yoder-Powell Funeral Home in Kalona, where the family will greet friends from 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. www.powellfuneralhomes.com