Gwendolyn J Backerman

Gwendolyn J. Backerman, 94, of Cedar Falls, died of natural causes on Tuesday, January 4, 2011, at the Cedar Valley Hospice Home in Waterloo.  She was born December 19, 1916 in Orchard, Iowa, the daughter of Ernest Lincoln and Mary Maude (Langdon) Johnson.  Gwendolyn married Harold R. Backerman on September 2, 1937 in Ehler, Iowa.  He preceded her in death on September 19, 2005.  She was a 1935 graduate of East Waterloo High School and worked at Rath Packing Company in Waterloo for five years.  Gwendolyn taught Sunday School and was a leader of the Girls Missionary Guild for many years at Calvary Baptist Church in Cedar Falls.  She was an avid golfer and golfed on all of the courses in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area.

Survivors include her two sons, David (Rolene) Backerman of Hope Mills, North Carolina and Ernest (Jill) Backerman of Townsend, Georgia; her daughter, Marilyn (Mark) Trunnell, of Cedar Falls; six grandchildren, Jim (Ellen) Trunnell, Katie (Bill) Heubner, Tyler (Katie) Trunnell, Megan (Aaron) Brummer, Jeffrey Backerman, Cheryl Patrick, and thirteen great grandchildren.

Gwendolyn was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and three brothers, Raymond, Melven and Robert Johnson.

Services will be 11:00 am Saturday, January 8, 2011, at Walnut Ridge Baptist Church in Waterloo, with burial at Greenwood Cemetery in Cedar Falls.  Visitation will be one hour before the service at the church.  Memorials may be directed to the Cedar Valley Hospice Home in Waterloo.  Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.  Online condolences may be left at www.DahlFuneralHome.com .