Wilma Kress

Funeral Service for Wilma R. Kress, age 84, of Wheaton, Minnesota will be held Saturday, June 29, 2013 at 11:00 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Wheaton, Minnesota with Rev. Darrell Boe officiating. Organist will be Nancy Krenz. Visitation will be held one hour prior to service time at the church. Inurnment will take place at a later date in Wildwood Cemetery, Wheaton. Wilma Rosalie Brown was born on April 1, 1929, in Des Moines, Iowa the daughter of Mary Ann McDivitt and Andrew LeRoy Brown. She attended school and graduated from the Ankeny (Iowa) High School in 1948. She moved to Los Angeles, California and worked at the Los Angeles General Hospital in the Central Supply Department. On December 29, 1948, she married Glenn F. Kress, Jr. in Huntington Park, California. After his discharge from the United States Navy they returned to Des Moines. In 1958, they moved to Minnesota when he worked for the United States Army. In 1972, the family moved to Wheaton. She was active at the First Presbyterian Church. In 1983, she was installed and ordained to the Board of Deacons. January 1984, she was appointed financial secretary. In 1985, she was appointed Chairman of the Board of Deacons. On November 23, 1986, she was bestowed with an honorary membership of the United Presbyterian Woman. On January 29, 1989, she was ordained and installed as Elder. In 1990, she was appointed Clerk of the Session. She lived a short time in Fergus Falls where she attended the Federated Church and was active at Prairie Wetlands Learning Center. In 2008, she returned to Wheaton and the First Presbyterian Church where she was reelected as Elder. Wilma passed away Sunday, June 23, 2013 at her residence in Wheaton. Wilma is survived by three sons: James Kress of Cambridge, Minnesota; Jerry (Luann) Kress of Eldorado, Illinois; and Jeff (Lori) Kress of Fergus Falls, Minnesota; two brothers: Gene (Shirley) Brown of Des Moines, Iowa and Robert (Darlene) Brown of Aloha, Oregon; nine grandchildren: Dawn, Amanda, Stephanie, Jody, Brent, Shaun, Jessica, Lesley and Grant; eighteen great-grandchildren; sister-in-law Nita Fisher of Barker, New York; and special friends Edna Johnson, Shirley Van Buren and Loretta Pederson all of Wheaton. Wilma was preceded in death by her daughter Jacalyn Hopkins; husband Glenn Kress; parents Andrew and Mary Brown; two sisters Dorothy Wisecup and Betty Rogers, step-father Earl Garner along with two stillborn children.