Donna Gerdsen, 69, Iola, died Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011, at Victoria Falls in Andover.
She was born Aug. 17, 1941, in Harrison County, Mo., the daughter of Thomas G. and Edith Catherine (Carson) Johns. She grew up in Humboldt where she graduated from Humboldt High School in 1959. On Sept. 1, 1962, she married Clyde E. Gerdsen and they made their home in Iola most of their married lives. Clyde preceded her in death on March 3, 2009.
She worked as a seamstress for H.L. Miller & Son Dress Factory in Iola until it closed. She later worked at The Iola Register until she retired. Gerdsen was a member of Grace Southern Baptist Church in Iola. She enjoyed gardening and collecting frogs.
She is survived by her four children: Teresa Rose and her husband, Richard, Broken Arrow, Okla., Mike Gerdsen and his wife, Vicky, LaHarpe, Tammy Rinehart and her husband, James, Derby, and Tom Gerdsen, Wichita; eight grandchildren: Jacob Gerdsen, Jordan Gerdsen, Megan Hessel, Collin Hessel, Rebecca Rose, Alissa Rose, Amber Gerdsen and Michael Ryherd; one great-granddaughter, Briana Gerdsen; six sisters: Helen Heide of Virginia, Lorraine Peugh of North Carolina, Sue Bush of Mulvane, Jean Gibson and Neoma Jones, both of Haysville, and Cathy Noland of Shaw; as well as a host of nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by a son, Mark, two brothers, Lloyd and Richard Johns, four sisters, Wilma Lee Johns, Elizabeth “Betsy” Watson, Martha Venabel and Arlene Kariker, and an infant brother, Tommy, and an infant sister.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Chapel in Iola. Burial will follow at Highland Cemetery. The Rev. Steve Traw will officiate. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the funeral chapel.
Memorial gifts to the AIDS Foundation may be left with the funeral home.
Online condolences for the family may be left at www.iolafuneral.com.
Donna Gerdsen
