Genevieve Coppersmith Obituary

Genevieve Mae Coppersmith, 96, died at home, at the Highland Ridge Care Center, Williamsburg, Iowa, on June 02, 2025. If you felt a breath of sweetness pass by, that was her soul returning home.

Genevieve was born on November 24,1928, in What Cheer, IA to parents Richard Burdock, and Minnie Pearl (VanPatton) Burdock. She attended grade school and high school in What Cheer, was a Cheer Leader and graduated from What Cheer High School in 1946. Before graduation, she met Franklin Coppersmith, from rural What Cheer. They began dating in 1943. Franklin and Genevieve were married December 21, 1946, at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. Genevieve's love and life's work were bound together. As Franklin began his career as a farmer, she began hers as a farmer's wife. She was hard-working, smart, frugal, adaptable, quietly self-confident, supportive and loving as a wife, mother and homemaker.

Genevieve and Franklin moved into their home on the Coppersmith farm in 1948, and lived there until 2011. One of Genny's many strengths as a farmwife was cooking. She cooked three meals a day, often including lunch for a hired man, or farm crew. During harvest she drove through the fields to deliver meals so the combine wouldn't stop. Much of the food her family enjoyed - asparagus, rhubarb, cherries, strawberries, green beans, peas, sweet corn, tomatoes and potatoes - Genny raised in her garden, and canned and preserved in her spotless kitchen. She also enjoyed planting flower beds, grooming a beautiful lawn, and ensuring that all weeds were kept at bay.

Nothing pleased Genny more than summer vacations with her family - Franklin, Glenda and Gwendolyn. It was always a road trip, usually out west, and never before all weeds in sight had been pulled. Genny was also fond of hosting Sunday dinners with her family, and volunteering at the First Christian Church and What Cheer Opera House Committee. She enjoyed socializing with neighbors and friends, especially in her home, and was quick to offer coffee, tea, soda and a delicious homemade dessert to guests.

In 1973, Genny completed cosmetology school, and opened the Beauty Box, a small beauty shop on Main Street in What Cheer. When it closed, she built a smaller beauty shop in her home, and continued to provide hair care for a few longtime customers. After Franklin retired from farming, he and Genny opened their home as a Bed and Breakfast for pheasant hunters. For more than 10 years, they hosted wonderful people from around the country, several who became life-long friends. Genny encouraged her daughters to try new things; work for the Blue Ribbon, practice your music lesson, set high goals, do your chores, work hard in school, prepare for college, but most of all, be honest, kind, and considerate of others. Genevieve remained healthy and active throughout much of her life. As such, she brought enormous love, energy and enjoyment to being a grandparent. Whether it was hosting the grandchildren at Lake Ponderosa, buying a pony or a jet ski, throwing a birthday party, planning and preparing the perfect Christmas celebration, curling their hair before school pictures, taking the family to Disney World, or just making sure that she could help in some way, Genevieve was a phenomenal grandmother.

Genevieve and Franklin moved from the farm to Oskaloosa, IA in 2011. There she enjoyed meeting new neighbors and friends, and found a church home at the First Christian Church in Oskaloosa. Genevieve and Franklin celebrated 74 years of marriage before Franklin died on February 11, 2021. He was the love of her life, and she, his. After Frank's death, Genevieve moved to Highland Ridge Care Center in Williamsburg, IA. For three years she was blessed to be cared for and loved by the staff at Highland Ridge. They remember her for her sweetness, gentle nature, dignity, sense of humor, acceptance and celebration of what life has to offer at every stage.

She will be remembered by many as loving, kind, quietly self-confident, energetic, generous, and supportive. Genevieve is survived by two daughters, Glenda Wiese (Carlton), What Cheer, IA, and Gwendolyn Countryman, Iowa City, IA; five granddaughters, Katie Boland (Jesse), Molly Guerra (Ivan), Libby Darnell (Jeremy), Genevieve Giambalvo (Joey), and Audrey Eagenhouse (Grant), and 11 great-grandchildren; Jacob Guerra, Bradley Mauer, Mya Yamaki, Daisy Mauer, Katie Guerra, Mary Ellen Mauer, Grayson Darnell, Grant Boland, Miles Boland, Jasper Darnell, and Gemma Giambalvo. She is also survived by her nephew, Harry Burdock (Rose), and nieces Jane Nusbaum and Jane Sievertson (Al), as well as several grand-nieces and nephews. Genevieve was preceded in death by her husband, Franklin Coppersmith, her parents Richard Burdock and Minnie Pearl Burdock, and her brother Harold Burdock.

Visitation and Memorial Service will be held on Monday, July 7, 2025 at 10:00 a.m., in the First Christian Church, Oskaloosa, IA. (119 A Ave E, Oskaloosa, IA.) Pastor Molly Goodrich presiding. Lunch will follow in the church basement. Memorial gifts will be forwarded to the American Cancer Society and the What Cheer Opera House.

To send a flower arrangement in memory of Genevieve Mae Coppersmith, please click here to visit our sympathy store.

To plant Memorial Trees in memory of Genevieve Mae Coppersmith, please click here to visit our sympathy store.