WOELFFER, Gladys I.

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ December 23, 1998, p. 16 Gladys I. Woelffer of Garden Grove, California died December 14 in Garden Grove. She was 87. Mrs. Woelffer was born November 10, 1911 in Hamilton, Missouri and had lived in Arizona for 33 years. Gladys met her husband Art Woelffer for the first time while riding on a streetcar in Chicago, where Art was an accountant and Gladys was a school teacher of home economics as well as math and history. Since no other seats were available on the streetcar, Art happened to sit next to Gladys and it was love at first sight as they struck up a conversation and he asked her out on a date. About six months later, they decided to marry, traveling to Dekalb, Illinois where her sister Elnah’s husband was pasturing a church. They were they were married, with Elnah’s daughter Donna being the flower girls. Since Art’s former wife had passed away, leaving five children, Gladys found herself with a ready-made loving family. Years later, after their children had all left the nest, Art and Gladys happened to be traveling through Wickenburg on their way to California. Falling in love with the town, they decided to stay. Moving to Wickenburg, Art’s first job was with the local post office, later working as an accountant for various town businesses and then later becoming a prominent town councilman for which he was later re-elected to the position by popular demand. Gladys taught school in three different Wickenburg schools, the last being Wickenburg High School. Throughout the years, Gladys was very active in church serving as a Sunday school teacher and a member of the Presbyterian Women’s group. She also was active in community functions, being one of the founders and providers of the Desert Caballeros Western Museum in Wickenburg and also a provider and associate of the Friends of Music. They’ve had many wonderful friends within the Wickenburg community, which they loved, and were loved and respected by all, who know them well. They both received Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and loved God with all their hearts. The two most precious promises of God that Gladys knew by heart and deeply cherished were: John 14:1 and I Thes. 4:13. She will be missed dearly by all who know her. Survivors include son Arthur W. Woelffer of Hazel Crest, Illinois; daughters Gertrude Akins of Memphis, Tennessee and Leone Kelly of Grand Junction, Colorado; niece Donna S. Gaston of Huntington Beach, California; nephew Jerry Smith of California; 11 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Arthur in 1992; parents Haskell and Harriett McCarroll; sisters, Clara Wiley and Elnah Smith; and children Virginia Green and Louise Woelffer. Funeral services were held Saturday, December 19 at 1 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Wickenburg, with Pastor Jim Longstreet officiating. Interment is at the Wickenburg Cemetery. Brown’s Wickenburg Funeral Home handled all the arrangements.