Jeannette Louise Gibson passed away on March 18, 2007, at The Martin Center in Cedar Falls. She was born on March 2, 1923, in Spooner, Wis., to Fred and Charlotte (Watrud) Yoss. She grew up in Hudson, and Vandercook Lake, Mich. She graduated with honors from Vandercook Lake High School in 1940 and with honors from Michigan State College in 1944 with a B.S. in nutrition. After college she worked as a draftsman for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Engines and as a chemist for the State of Wisconsin in Madison. She married Victor Gibson on Dec. 28, 1947, and moved to Ames, while Victor completed his B.S. at Iowa State University. Upon Victor’s graduation in 1950, they moved to Waterloo. Jeannette raised four children and ran home-based businesses, including magazine sales, product surveys and a home-based tax preparation business. She attended the University of Northern Iowa for several years, majoring in business. She was hired by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as an auditor in August 1976. She was promoted to agent while working for the IRS, and worked there until she retired at age 74 in 1996.

Jeannette was a long-time member of the Blackhawk Archery Club. She was a member of the ISAA, NFAA, NAA and PAA archery associations. She was All-Events State Archery Champion in the women’s division in Iowa for many years. In 1957, both she and her husband, Victor, won the Iowa State Championship. Jeannette’s score broke both the previous women’s and men’s records. In 1957, she was slated to be on the team representing the United States at the national championships in Czechoslovakia, but pregnancy intervened.

Jeannette was active in charity work and contributed to the World Wildlife Federation, the Fund for Animals, UNICEF, the Lung Association, the Heart Association, and several other charities including the sponsorship of two Brazilian children. She served as treasurer for several organizations including the Unitarian Universalist Society of Black Hawk County where she was a member; NARFE (National Active and Retired Federal Employees); as well as serving on the board of directors for the Cedar Valley United Way.

Jeannette was practical, generous and kind. In addition to all the charity work she did, she fed the birds, squirrels and deer at her home at 251 Four Seasons Drive and the birds at her apartment at Mallard Point Retirement Community. She treated every living creature she met with respect and kindness.

Jeannette was a big movie fan and knew the plots and actors in most of the popular movies made in the last 70 years. She was a wiz at Jeopardy and knew most of the important facts in American and world history. She was an avid reader. She knew the birth dates of all her relatives and friends, and knew many of their shoe sizes. She was truly a genius.

Jeannette was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Charlotte Yoss; her husband, Victor; one brother, Dr. Robert Yoss; a daughter-in-law, Kathy Gibson; a son-in-law, Fernie Hampson; and a granddaughter, Mekila-Rose Maurice. She is survived by her brother, Ken Yoss and his wife Pearl of Fort Wayne, Ind.; two sons, Marvin and his wife Maria of Norfolk, Neb., and David and his wife Karen of Cedar Falls; two daughters, Sharon Hampson of La Crosse, Wis., and Nancy Gibson of Fairfield; nine grandchildren, four stepgrandchildren, three great-grandchildren and 13 stepgreat-grandchildren. She was truly unique and will be missed by her friends and relatives.