Edith Ropp

KALONA ? Edith Cleola Gnagey Ropp, 89, of Kalona, died Friday, Nov. 27, 2015, in Bickford Assisted Living in Iowa City.

A celebration of life service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, Dec. 2, at West Union Mennonite Church in rural Parnell with the Rev. Corey Miller officiating. Burial will be in the West Union Cemetery in rural Parnell. Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m., Tuesday at the Yoder-Powell Funeral Home in Kalona, where the family will greet friends from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. A memorial fund has been established for West Union Mennonite Church.

Mrs. Ropp was born Dec. 11, 1925, in rural Johnson County near Wellman, the daughter of Joseph and Ella (Kinsinger) Gnagey. She married Leroy Vernon Ropp on June 3, 1947.

She grew up in the rural Wellman area. She and her husband farmed the homestead where she grew up, living in rural Johnson County until 1996, when they moved to Kalona. She was a member of West Union Mennonite Church and was active in the women?s sewing group at West Union and the Farm Bureau ladies. She enjoyed collecting and making dolls, and traveling with her husband, including many winters spent in Pharr, Texas, during their retirement years.

Surviving are her husband, Leroy; two daughters, Ardith Hartzler of Wellman, and Diana Miller and husband Morris of Riverside; one son, Lamont Ropp and wife Luetta of Wellman; three grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; two great-grandsons; and several close family friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; one son, Glenn Merlin Ropp; one daughter, Shirleen Ropp; and one son-in-law, Turner Brown.