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June 19, 2012

Wanda L. Beers

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TRAVERSE CITY — Wanda L. Beers, 90, of Traverse City, passed away June 18, 2012, at Orchard Creek Supportive Care.

Wanda was born on Dec. 3, 1921, in Bath, to the late F. Rae and Ethel (Swarthout) Gibbs. The family lived in the Laingsburg area and later moved to Lansing. A 1940 graduate of Lansing Eastern High School, she also attended the Lansing Secretarial School. After working for the maker of advertising films, she worked for the Director of Civilian Defense during World War II, and later for the Department of Social Welfare, Juvenile Justice Division.

On Nov. 24, 1945, Wanda married Vernon L. Beers, in Lansing. They lived for a year in Pasadena, Calif., where she worked for CF Braun & Co., manufacturers of oil and refinery equipment.

When Wanda and Vernon returned to the Lansing area, she went back to work for the Department of Social Welfare until they moved to Traverse City in 1950. Here she was hired as the first employee of Northwestern Michigan College, serving as secretary to President Preston Tanis, and all-around assistant to the five faculty members and 64 students for the college's first year.

She was later employed as a probate legal assistant by the law firm Running, Wise and Wilson until her retirement.

While raising her family, Wanda was busy with various school-related activities. Before the schools had their own staff librarians, she ran the Oak Park Elementary School library for several years and coordinated other volunteer parents to help. While employed by the law firm, she was active in the Grand Traverse Legal Secretaries' Association. She attended Peninsula Bible Church, and for a time assisted the board by keeping their meeting minutes. She enjoyed playing the piano and was a life-long avid reader, volunteering at the Traverse Area District Library following her retirement. She and Vernon spent several winters in Gulf Shores, Ala.

Wanda lived on Washington Street for almost 50 years. In 1964, she and neighbors Frances Koivisto and Ethel M. Bell circulated petitions in the Washington Street area seeking to preserve F & M Park (rather than having the city sell the land for residential or commercial use), to present to the City Commission. She enjoyed watching the many activities in the park, particularly parade preparations for the National Cherry Festival. Since 2008, her home was Orchard Creek Supportive Care, where she was affectionately known as "Wanda Lou" or "Lou."

Wanda is survived by her daughter, Suzanne (John) McCarthy, of Traverse City; son, Douglas (Ilene) Beers, of Orchard Lake; brother, Darwin Gibbs, of Bath; sister, Evelyn (Don) Wethy, of Ludington; grandsons, Spencer and Tyler McCarthy and Andrew Beers; an aunt, Roberta McIlhenny, of Myersville, Md.; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Vernon, in 1991; and her parents.

Visitation will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, June 21, at Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home.

Memorial contributions may be directed to Autism Speaks, 2 Park Avenue, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10016, www.autismspeaks.org; or to Safe Passage, 81 Bridge Street, Suite 104, Yarmouth, ME 04096, www.safepassage.org.

Please visit www.reynolds-jonkhoff.com to share your thoughts and memories with the family.

The family is being served by Reynolds-Jonkhoff Funeral Home.

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