Wilma I. Unruh

Wilma Irene Unruh, 85, of Greeley, died Thursday, January 8, 2015 at Bonell Good Samaritan Center. Wilma was born on October 28, 1929 in Meade, Kansas. The second child and oldest daughter of George and Marie (Warkentin) Zielke.

Wilma was raised and educated in Meade. She attended grade school at Mound View School. After the 8th grade, she attended Meade Bible Academy for two years and then Meade High School for two years. In the fall of 1946, she met Doland V. Unruh, who had come to Meade to teach at Pleasant Hill School. They were married on November 2, 1947 at the EMB Church in Meade. After their marriage, they attended Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Nebraska for one semester. In the summer of 1948 they moved to Fowler, Kansas, where Doland was employed by Loewen Oil Co. In September 1949, they moved to Emporia, Kansas, where Doland attended Kansas State Teachers College. Doland graduated from KSTC in 1951 and him and Wilma moved to Hutchinson, Kansas. They began attended the First Missionary Church, where they taught Sunday school and directed music. In February 1957, they accepted a call to pastor the church where they were attending. Then in September 1963, God opened another door for Doland to attend Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas for one year. In September 1964, they accepted a call to preach at the First Missionary Church in Bluffton, Ohio. Then, in September 1967, they moved to Denver, where they pastored a Missionary Church, whose name was changed to Meadowbrook Bible Church. In the fall of 1973, they moved to New Raymer in northeastern Colorado to pastor a small church, which was a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America. During this time, Wilma also worked in food service at Prairie School. Doland passed away December 1, 1981. Following Doland’s death, Wilma continued living in New Raymer for two years and then she moved to Greeley, where she worked various places until she moved to Corn, Oklahoma in 1986 to serve as a Food Service Manager at Corn Bible Academy. After six years in Corn, she returned to Greeley in 1992 and has been living in this area since. She worked at a variety of jobs, including as a teacher’s aide at Jefferson School and a library aide at Maplewood Junior High School. The job she most enjoyed after moving back to Greeley was working for Eastwood Insurance. Her church, Christ Community, is the highlight of her life.

Wilma is survived by daughters, Cynthia Bertsch (Andy) of Antego, Wisconsin and Marsha Unruh of Port Washington, Wisconsin; sons, DeVon Unruh (Beth) of Ft. Lupton and Royce Unruh (Modesta) of Thornton; sisters, Alice Balzer (LeVon) of Bella Vista, Arkansas and Carol Regier (Charles) of Corn, Oklahoma; brother-in-law, John Smith of Corn; 11 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren with one great-grandchild expected this summer.

She was preceded in death by two brothers, Arlen Zielke and Elmer Zielke, a sister, Ruth Smith and a sister-in-law, Bertha Zielke.

Graveside service will be at 2:00 p.m. Friday, January 16, 2015 at Eaton Cemetery. Celebration of Life will be at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Christ Community Church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Christ Community Church in care of Stoddard Funeral Home, 3205 West 28th Street, Greeley, Colorado 80634.

Please visit www.stoddardsunset.com to sign an online guestbook.