Wanda V. Metzger

Wanda V. Metzger           

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.