Lois Marian Gutz Coon was a loving and caring wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. She departed peacefully to her heavenly home on December 16, 2021, at the age of 92, three weeks shy of her 93rd birthday. Her loving heart and sense of humor will be missed dearly by those whose lives she touched.
Lois grew up in Pomeroy and Hampton Iowa. She earned her nursing degree from the University of Iowa. While working as a graduate nurse at the U of I Hospital ENT ward, she met her husband Wendel. They married in 1952 and moved to Estherville, IA a short time later for Wendel’s dental practice. Together they raised four children: Barbara, Jim, Jane, and Paul. During their early years in Estherville, Lois was an RN at Holy Family Hospital. Lois loved being a mom and grandmother. She delighted in hosting friends and family and was a fabulous cook and baker. Her freezer was always stocked with “Iowa Brownies”, lemon bars, and chocolate chip cookies. She was a skilled bridge player and hosted many bridge events at their home. Another of her many interests included family genealogy.
Lois’s heart of service found her active with the kid’s schools, Meals on Wheels, PEO, Alter Guild, Trinity Lutheran Church, and The Okoboji Iowa Lakes Art Center. Lois loved spending summers at the family cottage at Lake Okoboji, eventually living at the lakes fulltime until Wendel’s retirement, when they moved to Iowa City and most recently to Coralville.
She is survived by her big sister Janet Way in Colorado, husband Wendel, of Coralville, daughter Barbara and her husband Chris in Seattle, son Jim and his wife Janice in Austin, daughter Jane in Denver, and son Paul and his wife Heather in Seattle, grandchildren Sam, Sarah and her husband Steve, Bradley, Hayden, and great-grandson, Nolan, along with numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews. There will be a celebration of life for Lois in Iowa City, in the spring of 2022. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Iowa City, Iowa.
