Individual Details

Death

Louise Gerdes
Services were held Feb. 10 for Louise Gerdes, 95, at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Anamosa with the Rev. Ronald Bronemann officiating. Burial was at the Forest Hill Cemetery in rural Anamosa.
Louise Gerdes, Anamosa, died Feb. 7 at the Anamosa Care Center.
Gretke Katharina Luise Andreesen was born Nov. 7, 1891, in Leerhafe, Germany, the daughter of Henry and Margaret Folkers Andreesen. She received her education in the schools in Germany. Louise and her family moved to the United States when she was 14 years old. She married Gerhard William Gerdes on May 7, 1913, at Wayne Zion Lutheran Church. The couple farmed all their married lives in Fairview and Cass townships. Mr. Gerdes preceded her in death in 1959.
In 1980, she moved to the Lutheran Home in Manchester, and lived there for two years. She has been a resident of the Anamosa Care Center for the past four years.
Mrs. Gerdes was a member of St. Paul Lutheran Church and the Senior Circle of St. Paul's.
She is survived by two sons, Louis Gerdes of Dixon, Ill., and Garrett Gerdes of Anamosa; six daughters, Gertrude Nost of Cedar Rapids, Frances Brodersen of Olin, Marie Schoon Till of Bellevue, Claire Hayes of Redding, Calif., Helen Bender of Tustin, Calif., and Joyce Joslyn of Iowa City; 26 grandchildren; 35 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She is also survived by three sisters, Hanna Carlsen of Arlington, Texas, Clara Schwirtz of Anamosa and Grace Woodworth of Kennewick, Wash.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, a son, four brothers and three sisters.
Casketbearers were Craig Schoon, John Brodersen, Jeffrey Joslyn, Steve Hamilton, Greg Gerdes and Ron Delaney.
Goettsch Funeral Home, Anamosa, was in charge of arrangements. A memorial fund has been established.