Obituary of Maria E. Dunsmore

Maria E. Dunsmore, age 84 of 667 Scott Park Drive, Iowa City died Tuesday, April 18, 2006, at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, April 22, 2006, at Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service in Iowa City. Burial will be at Memory Gardens Cemetery in Iowa City. Visitation will be from 4 to 6pm Friday at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in her memory. Online condolences may be sent for her family through our website @www.gayandciha.com. Maria Elizabeth (Ploner) Dunsmore was born September 5, 1921 in Wurzburg, Germany the daughter of Heinrich Sigmund and Anna Ursula (Schwab) Ploner. She grew up in Bamberg, Germany where she graduated from high school and the university there. She married James K. "Jim" Dunsmore on December 31, 1950, there in Germany. She and her family came to the United States in 1953. Because Jim was a career man in the military they lived a number of places until he retired and they settled in this area. For a number of years she worked in the Housekeeping department of the University Hospitals. Maria enjoyed doing all sorts of crafts, from knitting, crocheting, and quilting. She loved being outdoors working in her gardens, walking the neighborhood, and visiting with her neighbors, but most of all she loved her time with her family. Her family includes a daughter, Barbara Ann Dunsmore of Iowa City; a son, John Douglas Dunsmore and his life partner, Peggy Schaeffer of Warrenville, IL; sister-in-laws: Myrle Williams of Canada, Guenn Kehoe of Iowa City, Edith Worrell and her husband, V.C. of Knobnoster, MO, and Dorothy Morrison and her husband, Jack of Columbus Junction, IA; and nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Jim on March 20, 2004; sisters, Barbara Jung and Monica Boatman; and a brother, Sigmund Ploner.