June
11, 1914 - Nov. 21, 2009SOUTH BEND - Florence M. Wagner, 95, a South Bend resident for 48 years, died at her home in Ventura, CA, on November 21, 2009, the 67th anniversary of her wedding. The fourth of eight children, she was born June 11, 1914, in Chicago, to William George Lammel and Ida Ernestine Kater Lammel. She graduated from Calumet High School where she met her future husband, John Matthew Wagner. They were married in 1942 and moved to South Bend in 1946. In South Bend, Mrs. Wagner was a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church. She volunteered at the school cafeteria and with the Altar and Rosary Society, the Christ Child Society, the American Lung Association, Logan Center, Delta Theta Tau service sorority, and the South Bend Public Library where she worked two days a week for more than 20 years. When she left South Bend in 1994, she held a record for the most hours donated by a library volunteer. She was a member of a group that made hand-sewn quilts that were auctioned to raise money for charity. An accomplished seamstress, she helped sew costumes for a number of stage productions at Central High School directed by the late James Lewis Casaday. In Ventura she volunteered at the Avenue Adult and Senior Center in a program that paired seniors with elementary school children, and she was a member of San Bonaventura Mission Church. Mrs. Wagner was passionate about learning. She enrolled in a typing class at Central High, joined a Toastmistress group, and was selected to participate in a geriatrics program held at the University of Notre Dame. Before physical fitness was popular, Florence Wagner was actively involved in sports as a participant and as a fan. She was on volleyball teams from high school years up until her sixties. On her 75th birthday she appeared in the South Bend Tribune in a front page, color photo as a member of a water aerobics class. She continued to attend aerobics and exercise classes into her nineties. A devoted wife, mother and grandmother, Florence Wagner also kept in touch with her family in Chicago. Almost every Thursday night she wrote cards and letters to loved ones far away. She will be remembered for her cheerful descriptions of nature in notes and letters, her interest in current events, her support of the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cubs, and her avid love of reading. Mrs. Wagner was delighted about the election of Barack Obama as president, and one of the last books she read was a biography of Michelle Obama. Florence Wagner was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 52 years, John Matthew Wagner; sisters, Edna Thom, Clara Hartwig, Dorothy McHale and Eleanor Lindblade; brothers, William, Edwin and Milton Lammel; niece, Charlotte Etnyre; nephews, William and Robert Hartwig, William Lindblade, William Lammel and Michael McHale. She is survived by her daughter, D. Patricia Wagner, and son-in-law, Sylvester L. Tutt of Jeffersonville, IN; son, John W. Wagner, and son-in-law, Samuel Tejeda Gonzalez of Ventura, CA; granddaughter, Victoria M. Wagner, and great-granddaughter, Gabrielle Wagner of Jeffersonville, IN; and many beloved nieces, nephews and friends. Donations in Mrs. Wagner's memory may be made to the South Bend Public Library or to any charity. For information about the memorial gathering, please contact Mrs. Wagner's daughter Pat at DPatt1968@aol.com or call (812) 280-0071 or (502) 641-8891.