Glenmont - Joan (Wertenberger) Dunagan, 86, died Monday December 21, 2009 at the Country Court Nursing Home in Mount Vernon.
She was born in Lodi, OH to Paul F. and Grace Mae (Roose) Wertenberger. She grew up in the small community of Leoy. When she was 13, she and her sister Jeanette lost their beloved mother to heart to heart disease. Three years later God blessed their family with wonderful new mother, Florence Ramga Wertenberger, and soon after, their baby sister, Sandra Lee.
Joan graduated from LeRoy High School and planned to attend her father's alma mater- Baldwin-Wallace in Cleveland. There she dreamed of studying journalism and aviation, but since WWII was brewing in Europe, the college decided it could no longer accept women into its aviation program. "Daddy", as she affectionately called her father, convinced her she would make a fine nurse. Three years later she graduated from the People's Hospital Nurses' Training Program and did not stop being Nurse Joan until the day she passed.
That same year she was encouraged to write to a lonely soldier boy, the brother of Mary Dunagan, with whom she lived during training. Soon they fell in love, and while he was home on a short leave they sprung it on "Mother and Daddy" that they'd like to get married this weekend! With the help of Aunt Janet and Uncle Jim, they had a beautiful church wedding and Joan became Mrs. William "Olie" Dunagan.
When the war was over, Joan traded the comforts of community life for home in the country with her beloved Bill. While she nursed, he worked in the factory and then they farmed the hills of northeast Knox County together, raising three children along the way. Like her husband, Joan loved the land. The hills, the trees that covered them , the horses that played on them, and the stars that shone over them. She taught us to love and appreciate nature and the God who has created it all- and never, never to doubt His reality!
While Joan and Bill loved the land, they also loved people- the sick, the elderly, the pastor, the neighbor, the stranger, and especially their family. Joan never stopped being Nurse Joan. Truly she lived out her last days being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ, her Lord. Today she is celebrating her first Christmas in Heaven with her Saviour.
She is survived by daughters; Jill (Wade) Gillespie of Newark, and Barbara (Ray) Williams of Glenmont, a sister; Sandra Lee Jones of DeLeon, FL, 9 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, and a daughter-in-law; Sue Dunagan of Danville.
She was preceded in death by her parents; Paul and Grace Wertenberger, her beloved second mother; Florence Wertenberger, a sister; Jeanette Repp-Cane, her husband; William "Olie" Dunagan, a son; David R. Dunagan, daughters; Grace and Elizabeth, a great granddaughter; Ashley Taylor Mae Crowner, and brothers-in-law; Wade L. Jones and James Repp.
A funeral service will be held at the Fischer Funeral Home in Danville at 11:00 A.M. on Thursday December 24, 2009. Pastor Lloyd Miller will officiate. Burial will be in Wesley Chapel Cemetery near Danville. Calling hours are from 5-7 on Wednesday and one hour prior to the service Thursday.
Memorial donations can be made to the Greer Wesleyan Church; 20189 Nashville Rd., Danville, 43014.
