WETMORE-Geneva Marie Shumaker Whitaker, 96, of Wetmore, KS passed away February 14, 2011 at Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka. She was born July 16, 1914 near Goff, one of eleven children born to Wilson A. and Lillie (Merritt) Reece.
Her elementary education was obtained at five one-room country schools in Nemaha County, namely Sunny Knoll, Fairview, Harris, Morning Star and Shumaker schools.
In high school she took a normal training course and graduated from Wetmore High School in 1933. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from the Kansas State Teachers College of Emporia in 1958. She taught country one-room schools for fifteen years: two years at Aurora, four years at Swerdfeger and one year at Granada, all Nemaha County. She taught eight more years at Forty-four School in Brown County. She then taught eighteen more years in the towns of Powhattan, Netawaka, Goff and Wetmore. She retired from teaching in 1976 after teaching thirty-three years.
Geneva married Roy W. Shumaker in Horton on July 7, 1943. They lived on a farm north of Wetmore for forty years, moving into Wetmore in 1983. Roy passed away on October 17, 1987. She later married Paul A. Whitaker on July 14, 1990 in Centralia. They made their home in Wetmore. Paul passed away on March 21, 2008. She was also preceded in death by six sisters and four brothers.
With the exception of two years spent in Chicago, her entire life was spent in Nemaha County. In Chicago she worked as a diet maid at Cook County Hospital and as a clerk/typist at Western Electric Company.
She was a member of the United Methodist Church and the Wetmore United Methodist Women. Formerly, she was a member of the Wetmore Study Club, the Alpha Delta Kappa and the Nemaha County Retired Teachers Assoc.
Survivors include a step-daughter, Judy Siragusa and her husband, Tony of Bonner Springs, KS; her step-daughter-in-law, Georgia Wade of St. Joseph, MO; her sister-in-law, Mary (Reese) Johnson of Bend, OR; step-grandchildren and nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, February 18, 2011 at the Mercer Funeral Home in Holton. Private inurnment will be in the Wetmore Cemetery at a later date. Memorials may be given to the Wetmore United Methodist Church c/o Mercer Funeral Home, Box 270, Holton, KS 66436.