COUDERSPORT, PA - Wanda Virginia Gooch Metzger, 94, passed
away at UPMC Cole, Coudersport, on Saturday, December 21, 2019, after a long
battle with cancer.
Born November 22, 1925 in Coudersport, she was the daughter
of C. Jay and H. Beryl Arnett Gooch. She graduated from Coudersport High School
in 1944. She married Arthur E. Metzger, December 16, 1944 at the family farm on
Crandall Hill, Hebron Township. He predeceased her in 1983.
In addition to her work on the family’s farm, she worked for
HR Tool Company, then in the Potter County Treasurer’s office in Coudersport,
before moving to Rome, N.Y. to take a job with the Department of Defense at
Griffiss Air Force Base. Her 34 years as a federal employee also included
stints for the Department of Defense at Olmsted Air Force Base, Middletown and
Tobyhanna Army Depot. She concluded her career at the New Cumberland Army Depot
where she was named Employee of the Year for 1991 for her outstanding work
during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm.
Always active in her community, Wanda began volunteering at
Fredericksen Public Library in Camp Hill upon her retirement in 1997. In her 21
years of volunteer service, she received the Volunteer of the Year Award twice
and co-chaired the Friends’ Spring and Fall Book Sales for many years.
She was a member of American Business Women’s Association,
Camelot Chapter for 26 years, serving on various committees and being named
Woman of the Year in 1994 and 2010. She served as elected Inspector of
Elections in her voting precinct in Lemoyne Borough for eight years. She was
one of the first women admitted to the Garden Club of the West Shore.
She was also a member of NARFE (National Association of
Retired Federal Employees) and First Presbyterian Church, Coudersport.
For many years, Wanda supported special activities at the
Austin Area School district where her son was a teacher.
She is survived by a daughter, Carol (Roger) Wilkerson,
Portland, Oregon; a son Arthur E. (Jane) Metzger Jr., Coudersport;
granddaughter Kate (Jonathan) Day, Colville, Washington; grandson Joseph
(Jennifer) Metzger, Palmer, Alaska; great grandchildren Rowan and Amelia Day
and Matteson Lynne Metzger; sister-in-law Dawn Metzger Newton, Coudersport, and
many nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents and husband, Wanda was
predeceased by two sisters, Marie Snyder and Dana Kenyon; and two brothers,
Everett Gooch and Lester Gooch, all of Coudersport.
Memorial contributions may be made in Wanda Metzger’s name
to the Coudersport Public Library, 502 Park Avenue, Coudersport, PA 16915 or
Cleve J. Fredricksen Library, 100 N. 19th Street, Camp Hill, PA, 17011.
Family and friends are invited to attend graveside burial
services at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, in Woodland Cemetery (Five
Corners), Hebron with her pastors, the Rev. Warren Cederholm and Pastor Donald
Caskey, of the First Presbyterian Church, Coudersport, officiating. The family
will celebrate her life at a memorial service in the spring of 2020 at a place
and time to be announced. Wanda’s family has entrusted her care to Kevin
J. Dusenbury, funeral director/owner of the Virgil L. Howard Funeral Home,
Shinglehouse.
To express condolences or share a fond memory of Wanda,
please visit www.virgillhowardfuneralhome.com or the funeral home’s Facebook
page, Virgil L. Howard Funeral Home.
