Winnifred “Winnie” L. (Hagberg) Getto, 98, passed away from natural causes at Bridge Haven Care Cottage in Lawrence, Kansas May 15, 2016 surrounded by her family. A memorial service will be 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 18 at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1011 Vermont Street, Lawrence. A reception at the church will immediately follow the service.
Winnie was born August 5, 1917 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to Gustaf and Mona (Weston) Hagberg. Her father was born in Sweden and immigrated to the United States in 1909 as a boy of thirteen along with a younger sister. Winnie’s mother was born in Oklahoma. Her ancestors included six of the original passengers, or “Pilgrims”, on the Mayflower, who founded the Plymouth Colony in 1620 in what is now Massachusetts, and at least three soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War (on the winning side). After her mother died an early death in 1932, Winnie and her three younger sisters were sent to separate homes. Winnie lived with Rudolph and Fanny Glatthaar, a loving couple who farmed near Lawrence, and who raised her as their daughter. Winnie graduated from Lawrence High School and from the Lawrence Business College.
Winnie met her future husband, Paul Getto, D.D.S., while both worked at the Eldridge Hotel in Lawrence and he attended the University of Kansas. After KU, Paul graduated in 1942 from the University of Kansas City School of Dentistry (now UMKC Dental School). Paul and Winnie were married October 10, 1942 in Montgomery, Alabama, where Paul served four years in the U.S. Army Air Force Dental Corps. Following his military service, Paul and Winnie lived two years in DuBois, Pennsylvania while Paul practiced dentistry. In 1948, they returned to Lawrence where Paul continued to practice dentistry and oral surgery for 38 years until his retirement in 1986. In 2011, Paul and Winnie celebrated their sixty-ninth wedding anniversary, two months before his death on December 21 of that year.
Winnie was active in her church, in the P.E.O. Sisterhood Chapter FZ, the Douglas County Dental Auxiliary, in volunteer work for the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, the Trinity Episcopal Church Interfaith Food Pantry and many other charitable organizations. Winnie was a wonderful, cheerful woman, as beautiful inside as out. She was loved by all who knew her. Besides her husband, parents, and foster parents, she was preceded in death by her sisters Mildred Williams, Florence McKinney and June Phillips. Winnie is survived by her son Paul, and wife Kathy, of Niceville, Florida; her son Charles, and wife Carol, of Lenexa, Kansas; her daughter Jane Getto, and husband Stephen Allen, of Lawrence; and seven grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to Trinity Episcopal Church, 1011 Vermont Street, Lawrence 66044. The family wishes to thank Sara Randolph and all the wonderful nursing staff at Bridge Haven Care Cottage for the excellent care they provided Winnie.
