Ida Werner

Ida Werner, 91, of Cape Girardeau, formerly of Gideon, Missouri, passed away Thursday, June 19, 2014, at Chateau Girardeau.

The family will receive friends at 9 a.m. today at Bradshaw Funeral Home in Malden, Missouri.

The funeral service for Mrs. Werner will be at 11 a.m. today at St. Ann Catholic Church in Malden, with the Rev. Glenn Eftink officiating. Burial will be in Memorial Park Cemetery in Malden.

Ida Josephine Werner was born in Lake Village, Arkansas, on Aug. 15, 1922, the daughter of Marcella Alpe and Guiseppe Borgognoni. She was married to Francis Louis Werner, who died Sept. 9, 1998.

After graduating Lakeshore High School in Lake Village, she was employed as a secretary for the railroad in Memphis, Tennessee, where she lived with her sister Dell Taylor. During World War II, while her future husband was overseas in the South Pacific with the U.S. Navy Seabees, she remained in Memphis. After Francis returned from overseas duty, they were married July 8, 1946, and moved to Malden where Francis began his lifetime career managing and farming family property with the assistance of his bride, Ida.

The couple later moved to the farm in Gideon in 1952 with daughters Mary Frances and Kathleen. Ida made this her home until she was 82 years old. During those years, Diana, Louis and Anita were born. Ida and Francis celebrated 52 wonderfully happy years of marriage. Ida kept a meticulous home, was an exacting teacher and an exemplary role model of all loving virtues.

In 1975 she returned to her working career and was a bookkeeper for The Gideon Compress. In 1982 she became the librarian for the Rhodes Memorial Library and in 1994 was presented the Outstanding Employee Award by the New Madrid County Library. She resigned from this position at the age of 82, a few months before moving to Chateau Girardeau Suites in Cape Girardeau.

Ida was a communicant of St. Ann Catholic Church in Malden, where she served as an active member of the Ladies' Altar Society for more than 60 years. She was a sincere and generous steward of her time and talent volunteering for many ministries and was voted Mother of the Year. She studied to become a Eucharistic minister and brought the body of Jesus under the appearance of bread in communion to the shut-ins and nursing home patients in the area, while in addition sharing her beautiful smile and engaging personality. For many years Ida and Francis transported fellow parishioners unable to drive the 10 miles to the church in Malden to worship our Eternal Father at St. Ann Catholic Church.

Among many other activities, she notably served as a leader for the Girl Scout organization, was a member of the Gideon American Legion Auxiliary and was an Ignatian retreatant of the Jesuit White House Retreat Center in St. Louis.

However, Ida's first loves were her husband and her family, including her Borgognoni family with 10 siblings, and the Werner family with Francis' nine siblings. She found joy in all beauty around her, found inspiration and sustenance in the seasons of the farm and the harvest. She had many friends and enjoyed the leisure and challenges of a weekly game of bridge. She loved to travel and was once able to spend two weeks in Italy, the birthplace of her parents. Trips to Lake Village and Clarksville, Arkansas, were an anticipated family event every year.

Ida is lovingly remembered and will be dearly missed by her children, Louis Werner of Cape Girardeau, Mary Frances Luckey of Cape Girardeau, Kathleen Klipfel (Ron) of Gideon, Diana Jones (Brad) of Lohman, Missouri, and Anita Toole (Allen) of Cape Girardeau. Grandchildren are Michelle Klipfel Hubbard (William) of Clover, South Carolina, David Jones (Brianne) of Adrian, Missouri, John Klipfel of Gideon, Sarah Jones of Lohman, Kristina Werner of Healdsburg, California, Amanda Toole of Cape Girardeau, Allison Toole of Nashville, Tennessee, Angela Werner of Los Angeles and Alicia Toole Schoch (Spencer) of Jackson.

Memorials may be made to St. Ann Catholic Church, the Alzheimer's Association or the Chateau Girardeau Foundation.