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- Bio: Gladys Adelaide Christopherson was born April 17, 1919, in Lu Verne, Iowa to William and Ellen Donelson. She passed away surrounded by her loving family on May 25, 2021, in Des Moines, Iowa. A celebration of her life will be held Tuesday, June 1, 2021, from 2-3 pm at Merle Hay Funeral Home.
- Gladys was proceeded in death by her devoted husband, Milo "Mike" Christopherson, granddaughter, Amy Jo Christopherson, and great-granddaughter, Erica Peterson.
- She is survived by her loving children: Al (Jane) Christopherson, Diane Kepner, JoAnne Duffy, Nancy (Stan) Wyant, and Jeff (Chris) Christopherson and nine grandchildren, twenty-two great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.
- The family would like to extend their thanks to Valley View Village for their loving care of Gladys.
- My Grandma was the third of four daughters born to William and Ellen Donelson. She grew up in rural Iowa on a farm. The girls helped their Dad with chores and their Mom keep the house running smoothly. I know it wasn't easy on the farm and I'm sure there were struggles to provide sufficiently for the family, but they all made it and eventually moved to Des Moines. I am very certain that these lessons are what made my Grandma so strong. I admired her for her strength to weather any situation that she had to face.
Grandma attended beauty school and worked as a beauty operator for a number of years. These skills came in handy when the family needed a haircut or perm. You could count on her to help you look your best. She cut my hair many times and permed it and curled it. I just loved her talents. My favorite was pin curls, then I had nice curly hair.
Grandma and Grandpa married on New Year's Eve in 1939 in Randall, Iowa. They were proud parents of five children, Allen, Diane, JoAnne, Nancy and Jeffry. They lived in Des Moines and the kids all attended Roosevelt High School. They moved to Ankeny in the early 1970s. They had a wonderful home where there were plenty of family gatherings for holidays, birthdays, and family visiting from out of state. To say that Grandma loved to entertain is an understatement. She was a pro at entertaining. I always marveled at how cool and calm she could be with a home full of family and friends. Her food was always the best. She was Swedish through her mother's family and Grandpa was Norwegian. She loved to cook native foods from both cultures. Lefse, kumla, kringla and many others. She loved to bake and made excellent pies of all flavors and the best cookies. Her cookie jar was always full when you visited.
My grandparents loved to travel and visited Norway, Hawaii, and many of the states. When the kids were growing up they loved to take vacations and go camping. My Mom has told me it was a lot of fun and that she saw a lot of this country when it was in a simpler time.
Grandma loved to sew and made clothes for the kids and herself and she loved to quilt. She hand-quilted all her items. She had a large frame in her basement and most often you could find a quilt in progress when you went to her house. Each grandchild received a quilt when they graduated from school and each great-grandchild received a baby quilt. She quilted with a group of ladies at church to send many quilts to missions and charities in our country and others around the world. She also helped my Grandpa with his woodwork projects. Together they restored, refinished, and created many new pieces of furniture, shelves, picture frames, wall clocks, grandfather clocks, and many other items. They were very talented and Grandma often-times hand-painted some of the items.
Grandma loved to play cards and she was very good at all card games. She played Bridge with a group of ladies for many years and my grandparents played in card clubs for many years as well. She played cards until she was in her early nineties.
As you have read, my Grandma had many talents and enjoyed many things in life. Her family was the most important of all. I spent many days with her while growing up and I even lived with my Grandparents while I went to college. She has always been my inspiration and I have tried to live life following the example she set.
Grandma's sisters were Margaret, Mildred and Verna, they preceded her in death. Margaret passed away in 2014 and the ladies both lived at Valley View Village at the time of Margaret's passing. They would see each other at meals and Grandma would wave to Margaret.
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1919 - 2021 (102 år)
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