On October 22, 2019, MYRNA JANE  GOODWIN, loving sister, mother, and grandmother, passed away at Careage Hills at the age of 81, after a courageous, decades-long battle with an illness.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 26 ^th , at 10:30 a.m. at the St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Cherokee, Iowa. Rev. Cris Decious will officiate. Burial will be in the Oak Hill Cemetery at Cherokee, Iowa. There will be a family prayer service at 10:15 a.m. at the church on Saturday. Visitation will be on Friday from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. with the family present from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee, Iowa. Online condolences can be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

Myrna was born on March 21, 1938 in Cherokee, Iowa to Boyd and Vivian (Holcomb) Cowan. She attended school in Cherokee and went on to receive her Pre-Professional Certificate in Elementary Education from Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls in May of 1958. She began her longtime teaching career educating third grade students at Everett School in Sioux City that fall.

On Christmas Eve of 1958, Bob Goodwin proposed to Myrna on her parent's front porch. They were married on June 21, 1959, at St. Paul's United Methodist in Cherokee, soon after moved to Topeka, Kansas, while Bob was serving in the United States Air Force. They returned to Cherokee in 1964. Myrna began teaching elementary reading in 1966. In 1973, she received her B.A. in Elementary Education from Buena Vista University, and went on to receive her Master's degree in the same field from the University of South Dakota. She would later retire in 1994, after 36 years as an educator. She was grateful for the opportunity to teach children to read.

Throughout life's difficulties, including losing their youngest son, David, six days before his 10th birthday, Myrna was a pillar of strength and grace that she found in her deep faith in God. Myrna was highly involved with her church and community. She was a devout member of St. Paul's United Methodist Church and United Methodist Women, as well as Alpha Delta Kappa, American Heart Association, National Education Association, Iowa State Education Association, Cherokee County School Board, Cherokee Symphony Association, Cherokee Community Theatre, Sanford Museum Association, Past Mother Advisor of the Order of Rainbow Girls, Airstream Travel Club, and Who's Who America's Teachers 1994. For several years she served as the President of the Cherokee Daycare Board.

Myrna and Bob loved traveling, and visited all 50 states throughout their life together. Myrna would often collect tiny bells from the many places she visited. When Bob and Myrna weren't on a road trip in their Airstream camper, she could be found spending time with her family and many friends, tending to her prized flowers, baking brownies for her grandkids and neighbor kids, and reading - a love for which she passed on to her students and grandchildren. She loved music and taught her grandchildren how to play the piano. Myrna was and remains to be well-known by everyone who knew her for her heartfelt kindness, sweet sense of humor, and exuberant joy for life.

She was preceded in death by husband Bob (2016); their son David (1975); her mother Vivian (2001); her father Boyd (1963); her special nephew-in-law, Jeff and his wife, Melanie (2018).

She is survived by two children and their spouses: Nancy (Jeff) Sivinski of Cherokee, Iowa; Dennis (Rodney Schwatken) Goodwin of Lansing, Kansas; three grandchildren: Andrew David Sivinski of Marcus, Iowa; Ivy Marie Doeden of Larrabee, Iowa; Staci Kristine Sivinski of Cherokee, Iowa; five great grandchildren: DeLani, Deidra, Tate, and Dru Doeden, and Cash Sivinski; her sister: Marlys (Gary) Nelson of Lakeville, Minnesota; one niece Angela (Wade) McGuire and one great nephew, Maxwell of Lawrence, Kansas; grand niece and nephew, Sarah Yancy and Cole Goodwin of Des Moines, Iowa, as well as many other friends and family.