Jean Myers

JEAN W. MYERS

Iowa City

Jean W. Myers, 87, a longtime resident of Iowa City, died Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017, at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics following a brief illness.

Private family services have been held, with burial at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Found Family Foundation in care of the University of Iowa Foundation, 1 Park Rd., Iowa City, IA 52242.

To share a thought, memory or condolence, please go to the funeral home website at www.gayandciha.com.

Wilma Jean White was born Oct. 6, 1929, in Stantonville, Tenn., the daughter of John D. and Pearl M. (White) White. After growing up in rural Tennessee, she graduated from Shiloh High School and then moved to Washington, D.C., where she worked as a fingerprint analyst for the FBI. A blind date with L. Merle Myers, a young man from Iowa, who worked in the FBI records department, became the love of her life. They married Sept. 30, 1950, in Washington, D.C.

Jean and Merle moved back to Packwood, Iowa, in 1955, and she worked at the local bank. In 1973, they moved to Iowa City, where she started a career with Thomas & Betts that spanned nearly 25 years before her retirement. Most recently, she and Merle have resided at Melrose Meadows in Iowa City.

She enjoyed life in many ways and was a member of First Christian Church in Packwood, Moose Lodge and TTT Sorority.

A strong and independent woman, she made sure her two daughters had a better life and more opportunities than she did. She worked hard her entire life and then had the pleasure of being retired for 25 years, giving her ample time to do what she loved: travel, cook, quilt, crochet, garden and spoil grandchildren.

Soon after she retired, she answered a newspaper ad for a babysitter. She later said that was the best phone call she ever made, because she became the adopted grandma for the Found family - Ernie, Ellyn, Greg, Catherine and Caroline brought great joy to her life, always treating her like a member of their family. For that she was grateful.

Ask her how she was doing in her later years, she would answer you enthusiastically, "I'm doing pretty good for an 87-year-old lady."

Jean will be remembered as a wonderful wife, mom, grandma, friend and neighbor. She lived a good life and left a wonderful legacy.

Her family includes her husband, Merle; their daughters, Vickie Sue Barnhouse (Bob) of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Melody Myers (Ken Offenberg) of Charlotte, N.C.; grandchildren, Kim Koogler-Franklin (Sean Franklin), J.D. Koogler (Cindy), Ben Offenberg and Sam Offenberg; two great-grandchildren, Zane and Alanna Koogler; Jean's siblings, Betty Lou Gilliland and John White; and longtime dear friends, the Found family.

She was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, Lois Durham and Daniel White.

Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Jean's family and her services.