Funeral services for Wanda Gossett, 91, of Portales will be held at 10:00 AM, Fri., Aug. 18, 2017 in the Wheeler Mortuary Chapel with Pastor Liz Smith officiating along with Curtis Allen and other family members. Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with her grandchildren serving as pallbearers. Belinda and Shawn McCarthy will serve as honorary pallbearers. Those desiring to make memorial contributions may send them to the Circle of Love, 454 FM 2013, Friona, TX 79035 in her honor. The funds will be used to purchase Bibles to be distributed in the Prison Ministry.
Wanda Pauline Gossett was born Aug. 24, 1925 in Floyd to the home of Mary (Perry) and J. A. “Jack” Howard, and died Aug. 14, 2017 in Clovis, NM. Wanda grew up in Floyd, and lived there her entire life until the mid 1990’s when she and her husband moved to Portales. She was a 1943 graduate of Floyd High School. During her senior year, Wanda drove the school bus. After finishing high school, she worked for a time at the local abstract office. During that time, since it was wartime, nylon stockings were at a premium, and she very tenderly cared for her only two pair to wear to work each day. On July 20, 1945 in Portales she was married to E. J. Gossett.
Wanda’s father died when she was a small child, so her mother made her home with them. E. J. and her mother did the farming, and Wanda and their two girls ran the household and filled in wherever else they were needed. Wanda was an excellent homemaker, and always had something good cooking on the stove. She canned and gardened and sewed, and milked and kept a meticulously spotless house along with everything else. She was a faithful member of the Floyd Methodist Church where she served as a Sunday School teacher for many years. Wanda was active in the Floyd Senior Citizens, and was a member of the Floyd Homemaker’s Club.
For several months following the death of her daughter, Wanda made her home with her granddaughter, Debbie and husband in Friona. While staying there, she helped them prepare Bibles to be distributed to prisoners through their ministry, Circle of Love. She was so excited to be a part of the “prison ministry.”
She is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Vickie and Frank Mitchell of Littleton, CO; five grandchildren, Debbie (Curtis) Allen, Sherrye (Anthony) Lovelace, Tammy (Trevor) Fraze, Chris Mitchell and his fiance, Sarah and Belinda (Shawn) McCarthy; 16 great-grandchildren and 9 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister, and brother-in-law, Vivian and E. M. “Bud” Myers, a daughter and son-in-law, Janice and Johnny Ogden, a grandson-in-law, Dennis Smith, and by her beloved husband, E. J. Gossett who died Dec. 9, 2004.
