Wanda F. (Ellis) Ford

Wanda F. (Ellis) Ford, 83, of Mt. Pleasant, IA, passed away Tuesday, October 6, 2015 at her home.

A visitation will be held from 2-7 p.m. on Friday, October 9, 2015 at the Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel where the family will receive friends from 5-7 p.m. that evening. A funeral service will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 10th at the Pleasant View Mennonite Church with Pastor John Yoder-Schrock officiating. Interment will be in Forest Home Cemetery. Memorials have been established to The Rec Center and to the City of Mt. Pleasant for Christmas decorations in central park. On-line condolences may be directed to www.olsonpowell.com.

Born December 8, 1931 in Mt. Pleasant, Wanda Fern was the daughter of William Bryan and Mary Ann (Kerr) Ellis. She graduated from Mt. Pleasant High School. On December 18, 1949 she married William A. Ford. They later divorced in July 1964.

Prior work experience was at Midwest Biscuit, Sylvania and Metromail. For 20 years, Wanda worked as a machine operator at Mitchell Engineering which later became Ceco. She retired from this position in 1994. After retirement, she held various retail jobs. She loved to volunteer and did most of this work at The Fellowship Cup and Midwest Old Threshers.

An active member of Pleasant View Mennonite Church, she served in many ways at her church. She was an avid reader and studied the history of the Bible. She was a current student at Iowa Wesleyan University taking religious studies classes. Wanda enjoyed ?mothering? to others, and she loved to provide meals to people. She made hundreds of quilts and adored her dog, Cosmo.

Survivors include four children, Mary Sue (Richard) Rieger of Raleigh, NC, Linda Lee of Bend, OR, Billie Allender (Andrew) Wyllie of Delta, IA, and Tom Ford of Mt. Pleasant, IA; two brothers, Kenneth (Dorothy) Ellis of Mt. Pleasant, IA, and Darrell Ellis of Davenport, IA; five grandchildren, Angela Deras, James Lee, Monty Smith, Alana Allender Paterson, and Shana Allender Bennett; and nine great grandchildren with one more on the way.

Preceding her in death were her parents.