Statler Family Obituaries
Wagner, Vera S. (nee Seabaugh)
Mrs. Vera Seabaugh Wagner passed away Sunday, Jan. 6, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. She was born Nov. 20, 1913, the oldest daughter of Loy and Ester Morton Seabaugh.
She was a graduate of Jackson High School and earned a B.S. in education from Southeast Missouri State University in 1940. She taught English and art in Jackson and Jefferson City, Mo.
She served during World War II in the United States Waves Medical Corps and was stationed in New Orleans for two years.
In 1948, she graduated from Columbia University in New York with a master's degree in art. On June 21, 1948, she married the Rev. Joseph Wagner of Jackson. He passed away March 6, 1972. While married, they had served Methodist churches in Salsbury, Fulton, Hannibal and Sikeston, Mo. Upon the death of her husband, she returned to Jackson and taught art at Southeast Missouri State University for six years, retiring in 1978 as professor emeritus of fine arts.
Mrs. Wagner served on the Jackson Park Board for 20 years and was instrumental in turning the old swimming pool into a playground. She also designed and painted animals in the park. She was involved in the development of the Veterans of All Wars Memorial and in establishing Litz Park.
Mrs. Wagner was on the Southeast Missouri State University's Wesley Foundation Board, a member of the Jackson Heritage Association and a volunteer with the Salvation Army. She served six years on the board of directors of Gambrill Gardens Methodist Retirement Home in St. Louis. She had been an active member of American Legion Post 158 Altenthal-Joerns Auxiliary.
She was a member of New McKendree United Methodist Church where she served on the church's administrative board, taught Sunday school, was Sunday school superintendent and past president of the United Methodist Women, and a member of the Dorcas Circle.
She is survived by three daughters and sons-in-law, Rebecca and David Burns of Memphis, Tenn., Patricia and Marty Corcoran of St. Louis, Mo., and Mary Esther and John Farris of Springfield, Mo.; seven grandchildren; a niece, Jill Mackey, and a nephew, Jack Piepenbrok of Jackson, and numerous other nieces and nephews and two great-nieces.
She was preceded in death by a sister, Verla Piepenbrok.
Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 11 a.m., at New McKendree United Methodist Church in Jackson, with the Rev. John Rice officiating. Burial will be in Russell Heights Cemetery in Jackson. Friends may call from 2-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 8, at Cracraft-Miller Funeral Home in Jackson.
Memorials can be made to the Jackson Park Foundation (Litz Park) or to New McKendree Church.
Obituary was printed in the Monday, January 7, 2002 edition of the Southeast Missourian newspaper
©2008 by David Statler of StatlerWeb
Last Updated: November 08, 2010