Wanda June Canny

Wanda June Canny

Columbus Junction

Wanda June Canny, age 88, of Columbus Junction, Iowa, passed away Friday, December 5, 2025, at Colonial Manor in Columbus Junction, Iowa.

Celebration of life services [Funerary festivities] will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, December 11, 2025, at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home in Washington with Pastor David Canny officiating. Calling hours will begin at 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at the Jones & Eden Funeral Home where the family will be present to receive friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Interment will take place at the Ottumwa Cemetery in Ottumwa, Iowa. Memorials have been established for The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Online condolences may be sent for Wanda’s family at www.jonesfh.com.

Wanda was born November 15, 1937, in South Bend, Indiana, the daughter of Dorsey Orvil and Erma Irene (Davis) Casteel. She graduated from Perry High School in Perry, Iowa and later graduated from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa in 1959. She married Andrew Jean Canny on August 10, 1958.

Wanda was a lifelong educator having taught Music and English. She and her husband, Jean, moved to New York where they lived from 1963 until 1975. They moved back to Ottumwa in 1975, eventually settling in Fairfield in 1981.

Music was a large part of Wanda’s life. She belonged to the North Atlantic Opera Company from 1971 until 1975, doing Off Broadway Operas in New York. She was involved with Sweet Adelines International until 2016. Wanda loved to sew and make costumes for her students. She enjoyed playing the piano at her churches and was proud to have provided care for her mother-in-law for many years.

She is survived by her daughter, Kayla Sue Shirell of Wetumka, Oklahoma; son, Christopher Jon Canny of Washington, Iowa; son, Curtis Sean (Holly) Canny of Columbus Junction, Iowa; son, Cory Shane (Jessica) Canny of Washington, Iowa; daughter-in-law, Deana Canny of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; 20 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren, 2 great-great-grandchildren, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Wanda was preceded in death by her parents; and her husband, Jean, in 1996; son-in-law, Ron Shirell; brother, Noval Casteel; brother, Dorsey Orvil “Doc” Casteel; and sister, Betty Kunkle.