Margaret Weiser Wirth, 84, of 701 Oaknoll Drive, Iowa City, died Wednesday, January 31, 2007, at Oaknoll Retirement Residence, following a brief illness.
Memorial services: 2 p.m., Wednesday, February 7, 2007, at Oaknoll. At her request, her body was deeded to the University of Iowa Department of Anatomy. Donations may be given to the First United Methodist Church.
Mrs. Wirth, the daughter of Harold W. and Margaret Eager Galloway Goewey, was born July 7, 1922, in Binghamton, New York. She married Richard B. Weiser on February 12, 1949, in St. Petersburg, Florida. She married Henry K. Wirth in Iowa City, Iowa, on October 12, 2000. She received her B. S. degree in 1943 in home economics from Douglass College in New Brunswick, New Jersey, her M. S. degree in early childhood elementary education from Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, and her Ph. D. in education from the College of Education at the University of Illinois in 1966.
She taught at the University of Iowa for twenty-four years and retired in 1993 as professor emeritus. She then was senior professor for two-and-one-half years at the Regents Center for Early Education based at UNI and taught six semesters at SEIWA Graduate College in Nishinomiya, Japan, after retirement.
Mrs. Wirth was a member of First United Methodist Church in Iowa City; was a member of OMEP (World Organization for Early Childhood Education), serving as regional vice-president (Canada/USA) for six years; a member of Amnesty International, Heifer International, People-to-People and Delta Kappa Gamma International. She was active at both local and stale levels in the United Nations Association. She led international education tours to the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, and the People's Republic of China. She wrote the textbook Infant Toddler Care and Education, published by Merrill & MacMillan, as well as numerous articles in professional journals. Her biography is listed in World Who's Who of Women, Leaders in Education, Dictionary of International Biographies, Notable Americans, and Who's Who of American Women.
She is survived by one daughter, Margaret E. Weiser and her husband, Meredith Hauptmann, of Olney, Maryland.; one son, Robert K. Weiser of Durango, Colorado; one granddaughter, Heather Marie Weiser: one stepdaughter, Katy Hansen and her husband, Pete: and two stepsons, Tom and John Wirth. She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Henry.
Copyright Cedar Rapids Gazette, February 2, 2007.