Corinne Inez Wilson Deming
Inez Wilson Deming passed away on Friday, Feb. 6, 2009 in Sanibel. She was 95 years old and had been in declining health for the past few years.
Her husband of 68 years, Frederick Lewis Deming, died in August 2003. She is survived by her two sons, Frederick Wilson Deming of Morristown, N.J. and Richard Louis Deming of Sanibel, two grandchildren and three great grandchildren and by two brothers. A sister pre-deceased her.
She was born on Jan. 20, 1914 in Webster Groves, Mo., the eldest daughter of Edward Fitzgerald and Adele Rosalie Trembley Wilson. She continued to live in Webster Groves until April 1957, and then lived on East Lake Harriet Boulevard in Minneapolis from 1957 to 1965 and again from 1971 to 2001. She spent many winters in Sanibel and became a full-time resident there in November 2001.
She attended grammar and high school in Webster Groves, and received an AB degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1935, where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi Sorority. While in high school, she won three medals – two gold and one bronze – in statewide contests in Latin and served on the school yearbook, The Echo. At Washington University, she worked on the student newspaper, Student Life.
She was a long-time member of Webster Groves Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis. She also was a long-time member of PEO in Webster Groves, Minn. and Sanibel, and the Women’s Club and the Women’s Christian Association, both of Minneapolis. In the Women’s Christian Association, she served a term as Treasurer and as a board member of Mabeth Paige Hall. For some years, she served as a volunteer at Sheltering Arms, a school for retarded children in Minneapolis and at Abbott Hospital and General Hospital, both in Minneapolis. She also was a long-time member of the League of Women Voters and in St. Louis served as state treasurer of the Missouri League.
Until her health began to decline, Mrs. Deming was an ardent sheller and also loved to play bridge. She first visited Sanibel Island in 1959 and for many years was on the beach at first light virtually every morning. Her shell collection was extensive.