Wilma Joyce Callen, 79, formerly of Waterford, died in her St. Louis, Mo., home on Oct. 9, 2011, after an eight year battle with cancer. She was born in Centerville, Iowa, on Oct. 3, 1932, to the late John L. and Wilma (Whisler) Callen.
The family moved to Southeastern Wisconsin during the Depression where they owned and operated restaurants in Burlington, Union Grove, and Waterford. Joyce began working in the family restaurants selling popcorn and ice cream through a walk up window at the Town Pump in Burlington during the 1940s. She graduated from Waterford High School in 1950 and then attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
In 1953 she began a 40-year career with Graybar Electric Company where she held a series of increasingly responsible positions starting as a clerk in the Minneapolis District and retiring as the Manager of Fleet Operations and Market Research at corporate headquarters in Clayton, Mo. Often she was the first woman in the company to hold the position into which she was promoted.
After retiring, she became an active volunteer tutor in the St. Louis Public School’s English as a Second Language program. She was also an active member of the Mt. Zion United Methodist Church. In her spare time she was an avid reader and enjoyed traveling.
Survivors include her brother, John (Mike); sister-in-law, Bonnie Callen of Knoxville, Tenn.; niece, Kathleen; aunt, Lenore Whisler of Union Grove, and several cousins.
She was further preceded in death by her sister.
A memorial service will be held in St. Louis on Oct. 27. Her ashes will be buried with those of her parents and sister in Moravia, Iowa. St. Louis Funeral & Cremation Services assisted the family.
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