Ionia Mae Oman, age 91 of Millersville, Maryland, passed away at Baltimore Washington Medical Center on Wednesday, March 4, 2015.

She was born on January 12, 1924, in Ellington township, Hancock County, Iowa, to Lewis and Clara Olson. She grew up on the family farm, graduating from Forest City High School and earning a teaching degree from Waldorf College. She taught in elementary schools in Lanyon, Corwith, and Estherville, Iowa.

She attended Lutheran Bible Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in 1951 took a position as a parish worker in Bethel English Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minnesota. In 1955, she accepted a position with the Women's Missionary Federation (WMF) in Minneapolis as national executive secretary. While working for WMF, she traveled for missions and spoke to women's groups throughout northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and in Lutheran Free Churches on the west coast and in southern Canada.

On September 20, 1959, she married the Reverend Lyman F. Oman at Pilot Knob Lutheran Church, Forest City, Iowa. Ionia and Lyman served churches in Superior and Madison, Wisconsin, before accepting a call to Argyle and Adams Lutheran Churches in Argyle, Wisconsin, in 1965, where they served until Lyman retired from the ministry in 1995. At this time, Ionia and Lyman moved to rural Amery, Wisconsin. In 2005, Lyman and Ionia moved to Maryland to be near their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. In 2007, Ionia moved to Assisted Living Well Compassionate Care in Millersville, Maryland, where she resided at the time of her death.

She loved spending time with her grandson, daughter, and son-in-law, and talking to family and friends on the phone. She enjoyed sewing and crafts, reading, playing bingo with her friends, singing, and playing the piano. Above all, she loved telling people about her Lord Jesus and ensuring that everyone she met had a Bible they could read.

Left to mourn her passing are her daughter, Mary Kassebaum (James); her grandson, Caleb Kassebaum; her sisters-in-law, Mrs. Gladys Olson and Mrs. Irmalee Olson; her nieces, Patricia Hagen (Dennis) and Phyllis Olson; a nephew, Robert Olson; a brother-in-law, Kenneth Oman (Elaine); nephews, Paul Oman (Jana), Mark Oman (Meredith), and John Oman (Laura); and many other dear friends and relatives. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her brothers, Wilbur and Leslie Olson.

Visitation for Ionia Oman will be at the Williamson-White Funeral Home, 222 Harriman Avenue North, Amery, WI, Friday, March 13, 2015, from 5-7 p.m. and for the hour prior to the funeral service on Saturday at the Church. The funeral service will be held Saturday, March 14, 2015, at 11 a.m., at East Immanuel Lutheran Church, Amery, WI.