Kathryn J. Stoops

Kathryn Jean Stoops, 95, of Wayland, died Sunday, Feb. 5, 2017, in Parkview Home in Wayland.

A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 9, at Fern Cliff Evangelical Free Church in rural Wayland with the Rev. David Shreeves officiating. Burial will follow at Fern Cliff Cemetery. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service, Thursday at the church. A memorial fund has been established for the Fern Cliff Evangelical Free Church.

Mrs. Stoops was born Jan. 19, 1922, near Noble, at a country home located in Henry County, the daughter of Daniel W. and Alice Ida (Roth) Nebel. She married James G. Stoops on March 15, 1945.

She graduated from Eicher School in 1939, attended Wayland High School in 1937 and Iowa City High School from 1938-39, and then graduated from Washington High School in 1940. She graduated from the Mennonite School of Nursing in 1945. She worked at Washington County Hospital, Veterans Hospital in Iowa City, and Mount Pleasant hospital. She began working for Dr. J.D. Widmer in Wayland in 1961, working there until retirement. She was a charter member of the Fern Cliff Evangelical Free Church and was active in church activities, including the Women?s Missionary Society and teaching Sunday school.

Surviving are two sons, Leslie D. Stoops of Wayland, and Stan Stoops of Washington; one daughter, Emily Hotle of Washington; five grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; one brother, Raymond R. Nebel and wife Joyce of West Chester; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, James, on April 21, 1999; one son-in-law, James Hotle; four brothers, Milton, Arthur ?Jimmy,? Billy, and Dale Nebel; and one sister, Lorene Nebel Graber Meyer.