White Funeral Home
400 First Street West
Independence, Iowa 50644

Independence – Edna L. Gipper, 89 years old, of Independence, Iowa, died on Wednesday, March 30, 2016, at Lexington Estate in Independence.  She was born on January 31, 1927, in Audubon County, Iowa, the daughter of Eric and Minnie (Haeflinger) Gust.  She graduated from high school in Oelwein, Iowa, with the Class of 1945.  On January 31, 1946, she and Ralph LeRoy Gipper were married at the Lutheran Parsonage in Fairbank, Iowa.  In addition to caring for her family, Mrs. Gipper was the secretary at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Fairbank for 25 years.  She also was a Weight Watchers team leader for 20 years.  She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Independence.  She loved spending time outdoors working in her flower garden.  If the weather wouldn’t permit being outdoors, she could be found sitting in front of her computer playing cards.  Edna also loved to sew and had spent a lot of time making quilts and various things for her kids and grandkids.  There wasn’t much in the line of clothing she couldn’t either make of mend.

Mrs. Gipper is survived by her husband of 70 years, Ralph, 2 daughters, Mary Ann (Ralph) Blessing of Waterloo, Iowa, and Virginia (Dan) Sweeney of Woodinville, Washington, and 1 son, Ed (Sue) Gipper of Independence, Iowa.  She is also survived by 9 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, 5 great great grandchildren, and 1 daughter-in-law, Barb Gipper of Fairbank, Iowa.

She was preceded in death by her parents, 1 son, John Gipper, 1 brother, Herbert Gust, 1 sister in infancy, and 1 grandson in infancy.

Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, April 4, 2016, at the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Independence with Pastor Greg DeBoer officiating.  Burial will be in Fairbank Cemetery in Fairbank, Iowa.  Friends may call for visitation from 2 p.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 3^rd, at the White Funeral Home in Independence.