Birth: January 25, 1925
Death: June 12, 2010
Location: Lot 103, Section 7, New Addition
Margaret Louise Heminger, 85, of Wood River, died Saturday, June 12, 2010 at Good Samaritan Center in Wood River.
Margaret was born Jan. 25, 1925 at Birmingham, Iowa, to Charles and Mary Jane (Hendrichs) Bailey.
Survivors are: son and daughter-in-law, Dewey and Dianne Heminger of Wood River; daughter and son-in-law, Neta and Gary Luhn of Wood River; brothers and sisters-in-law, Doyle and Deloris Heminger of Dannebrog, Jean and Rex Overstreet of Stockport, Iowa, Bob Waters of Grand Island, Joann Heminger of Kentucky, Carol Bailey of Des Moines, Iowa, and Wally Cook of Topeka, Kan; grandchildren, Holly and Charlie Ancheta of Wood River, Amy and Carey Martin of Grand Island, and Eva Heminger of Wood River; great-grandchildren, Jon and Lindsay Heminger, and Dustin, Darric and Dylan Ancheta all of Wood River; numerous nieces and nephews; and her best friend, Esther Luhn of Grand Island and a host of friends and relatives.
Margaret, who was the ninth of 10 children, was baptized at the Presbyterian Church while living in Birmingham. Her father died when she was 7 years old, so her mother taught school to raise the remaining five children.
In 1942, Margaret graduated from Salem High School in Salem, Iowa. While in school she enjoyed choir and drama. After high school, she worked for a brief while at Schaffer Pen Factory in Burlington, Iowa. She then attended Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa. Margaret taught rural school in Van Buren County, Iowa. She roomed and boarded with Rex and Neta Heminger while teaching at the Bradford School.
On Feb. 22, 1947, Margaret married Dewey George Heminger in Bonaparte, Iowa. The couple had two children, Dewey Rex and Neta Jane.
In 1952 the family moved to Grand Island, where Margaret was a member of the Presbyterian Church. They then moved to Alda in 1959. Dewey had the Alda Garage and Margaret went to Grand Island daily for auto parts. While living in Alda the family enjoyed camping and spending summer evenings at the Platte River with the Lawrence and LaVonne Wissing family of Alda.
Margaret was a member of the Alda Federated Church, where she taught Sunday School and Bible School.
In 1966 the family moved to Wood River. They had the Heminger Garage and Heminger Sales, where Margaret worked at different times. She also worked as a para-professional at the local high school.
She had been a resident at the Good Samaritan Center in Wood River since August of 2002.
Margaret was a member of the First United Presbyterian Church of Wood River. She was also a member of Circle Three, and also taught Sunday School and Bible School.
Margaret was preceded in death by: her husband, Dewey; grandsons, Bob Heminger, Wayne Heminger and Charles Luhn; her parents; and nine siblings.
Published in The Grand Island Independent on 6/14/2010