116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Obituaries
The Gazette publishes obituaries on a daily basis. Use the search field above to search for obituaries by name or keyword. Readers can submit an obituary or submit a milestone to The Gazette. The obituary must be submitted before 1 p.m. for publication on thegazette.com at 6 p.m. and in the daily edition the next day, with the exception of obituaries for Sunday publication, which must be submitted by 1 p.m. on Fridays.
Glenna Simpson
GLENNA SIMPSON
Cedar Rapids
Glenna Gaile Simpson, 85, of Cedar Rapids, passed away Saturday, July 5, 2014, from a long illness. A celebration of life will be held at a later date.
Survivors include her daughter, Wanda (Ron) Detert; son, Steven (Rijuan) McDaniel, all of Cedar Rapids; six grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; sister-in-law, Ina Bell of Colorado; and several nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and nephews.
Glenna was born Oct. 27, 1928, in Ottumwa, Iowa, the daughter of Orin and Delpha (Kelly) Bell. Following graduation from Hedrick High School, near her hometown of Ottumwa, she married Harold McDaniel and had three children, Mary, Wanda and Steve, before divorcing in 1955. She then married Lawrence Matthews and had a son, James. They later divorced. Glenna was then married to George Simpson and later
divorced.
Following her retirement of 30 years from Rockwell Collins, she went on to deliver motor homes coast to coast and lend help to the elderly with housekeeping chores and errands. She also spent many happy years as a co-owner of a charter salmon fishing boat in Racine, Wis., and competed in the Salmon-A-Rama. Glenna also loved her trips to Minnesota for bullheads and put many happy miles on her motorhome.
In 1989, Glenna relocated to her beloved Arizona, living in Verde Valley for a time
before settling in Peoria for over 18 years. Each summer she liked to
return to
Cedar Rapids to visit with her family and friends. She also welcomed her family and friends to Arizona and loved to serve as a tour guide on her many trips to the Grand Canyon and her other favorite sites.
She fulfilled her retirement with many trips around the world including Alaska, New Zealand, Australia and Hawaii.
Glenna was a longtime member of both the Eagles Club and Moose Lodge in Cedar Rapids and Peoria.
Following an illness in 2008, she returned to Cedar Rapids and resided with her granddaughter, Rachel and daughter, Wanda, until her passing. Glenna was a very caring and generous woman who will be sadly missed, but so very fondly remembered.
She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Donald and Glenn Bell; sister, Lahoma Griffioen Geary; daughter, Mary Bartachek; and son, James Matthews.
Please sign the online guest book and share a memory about Glenna at
www.stewartbaxter.com.
Daily Newsletters