Madge B. Coder

      Madge B. Coder, 89, of Mt. Pleasant, died at 8:40 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 22, 2000, at Mapleleaf Healthcare Center in Mt. Pleasant.

      The memorial service will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 3, in the chapel of the First United Methodist Church with Dr. Edward R. Peterson officiating. Her body was cremated and inurnment was held on Thursday, Dec. 28, at Evergreen Cemetery in Fairfield. A memorial has been established to the First United Methodist Church library.

      Mrs. Coder was born Oct. 19, 1911, in Pleasantville, the daughter of Robert and Etta Thurman Black. She married Harry D. Shaw in August of 1945 in Ottumwa, who preceded her in death. She later married Harry M. Coder on Feb. 3, 1973, at Mt. Pleasant, who preceded her in death on July 29, 1978.

      Raised by Peter B. and Minnie Woods after her parents died when she was three years old, she graduated from Pleasantville High School in 1918 and attended college. She taught for ten years in public schools, worked at Henry County Memorial Hospital, which later became Henry County Health Center, and also at the Mental Health Institute in Mt. Pleasant. She owned and operated the Newsland in Mt. Pleasant for 12 years before retiring. She was a member of First United Methodist Church in Mt. Pleasant and a past member of United Methodist Women, Mt. Pleasant Women?s Club, the Henry County Nature Society, and the Coffee Pot Club. She was also an avid book collector.

      Survivors include two stepdaughters, Phyllis Hummell and Pauline Payne, both of Phoenix, Ariz.; seven grandchildren, 12 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and one sister, Helen Summy of Des Moines. In addition to both husbands, she was preceded in death by two stepsons, Eugene and Francis Coder; a brother, Robert Jett; a half-brother, Ray; and a half-sister, Jessie.